On discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the EU agencies for the financial year 2024

OPINION

The Committee on Fisheries calls on the Committee on Budgetary Control, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following into its motion for a resolution:

1. Takes note of the report of the Court of Auditors (the ‘Court’) on the annual accounts of the European Fisheries Control Agency (the ‘Agency’) for the financial year 2024, the Agency’s 2024 annual activity report and the analysis and assessment of that report by the Agency’s Administrative Board;

2. Expresses its satisfaction concerning the activities carried out by the Court and the Court’s statement that the Agency’s accounts for the year ended 31 December 2024 are in compliance with the Union’s Financial Regulation and with the accounting rules adopted by the Commission’s accounting officer; notes the observations of the Court regarding management and control systems and the reiterated use of carry-overs; welcomes the Agency's explanations and its commitment to address these issues;

3. Notes that the Agency initially received a EUR 30,58 million contribution under the general budget of the Union in 2024, representing an increase of 1,61 % in respect of 2023; the final general budget contribution received by the Agency, after the amending budget was approved, amounted to EUR 30,79 million, representing a final increase of 2,31% in respect of 2023; points out that both the Agency’s annual budget and its complement of staff are among the lowest among Union agencies; stresses that, meanwhile, the activities of the Agency increased, in particular its efforts to tackle IUU fishing and its impact on the sustainability of fish stocks, the economy, sovereignty and the security of the Union and its outermost regions;

4. Stresses that the Agency received ‘other revenue’ for a value of EUR 1,23 million, therefore, the total revenue of the Agency amounted to EUR 32,02 million;

5. Acknowledges that in the financial year 2024 the Agency was able to implement 99,5 % of its annual work programme compared to 98% in 2023; notes that the Agency was able to carry out its operations and implement its budget as planned; congratulates the Agency for the budget implementation of 100 % in terms of commitments and 76,6 % in terms of payments, representing a 4 % increase compared to 2023; notes that, when taking into account the assigned revenue, the Agency achieved an implementation of 92,3 % in terms of commitments and 76,9 % in terms of payments; takes the view that this level of implementation and efficiency in the use of public funds is an example of good management that should be an inspiration to other EU agencies, particularly at a time when budgetary discipline and the responsible use of funds must be a priority;

6. Recalls the Union’s ‘zero tolerance’ approach to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and the Agency’s vital role in the fight against IUU fishing as well as the Agency’s contribution to the implementation of the common fisheries policy (CFP); deplores, in this regard, the fact that due to the expiry of the framework contract and the delay in the joint procurement contract with Frontex, no fixed-wing aerial assets could be chartered; warns that the expiry of these aerial assets is restricting the Agency’s real operational capacity when it comes to effectively fighting IUU fishing; calls for these procedures to be reviewed to prevent disruption that might give rise to illegal fishing activities in European waters; notes that expenses for chartering Off-Shore Patrol Vessels decreased by 2,5 %;

7. Stresses that, despite ongoing efforts, IUU fishing remains a serious challenge within EU waters, distorting competitiveness, undermining the sustainability of fish stocks, and threatening the economic viability of the EU fishing sector and coastal communities; highlights the urgent need to reinforce aerial and maritime surveillance and monitoring capabilities, to ensure effective and proportionate control and inspection systems, and to provide targeted support and training for national authorities and local coastal communities, in order to effectively detect, prevent, and combat IUU activities throughout EU waters;

8. Stresses the importance of the Agency’s reliance on external sources of revenue with a view of securing funds to fulfil its statutory objectives;

9. Recalls that it is the Member States that are primarily responsible for the control of fishing activities, while the Agency’s tasks are limited to support, coordination and providing assistance in this area to the Member States; highlights especially the importance of the Agency contributing to harmonising control with uniform, predictable and transparent supervision, avoiding divergent interpretations among Member States that risk creating unequal treatment, in order to ensure a level playing field and equality in controls; insists that the lack of control of fishing activities must not be compensated by the increase of additional burdens to operators, or in the loss of level playing field;

10. Stresses that the newly adopted revision of the Fisheries Control Regulation increased the Agency’s workload in particular to enable a more harmonised application of the rules among Member States; emphasises that growing obligations without sufficient resources to do so would impair the agency in its ability to carry out its important tasks;

11. Calls on the Commission to collaborate with the Agency when drawing up the delegated and implementing acts for the recently adopted Fisheries Control Regulation and on the regulations relating to its activities; recalls the need to guide the sector in implementing this framework by establishing projects that support fisheries stakeholders and administrations in transitioning to digital tools and updated rules;

12. Stresses, therefore, that the financial and human resources available to the Agency must be guaranteed and coherent with the tasks assigned to it and the activities to be carried out and avoid any additional pressure on the staff's activity and the quality of their working conditions; invites the Agency to continue its efforts to ensure the optimal use of the allocated appropriations;

13. Calls on the Agency to support Member States' monitoring and identifying serious infringements as defined in Regulation (EU) 2023/2842 and especially infringements referred to in Article 90(2), point (p) concerning forced labour; points out the importance of providing adequate training for EU inspectors in relation to monitoring and identifying serious infringements;

14. Notes that, in 2024, the Agency reported a total number of 45 734 inspections, a 1,65% increase in comparison with 2023; underlines that, while inspection numbers have risen, indicating a more efficient resource allocation, it also shows the need for effective monitoring and enforcement remains essential across all EU waters; considers that the 14% increase in inspections with at least one suspected infringement compared with 2023 offers valuable insight for further strengthening compliance and ensuring effective oversight; emphasises that the Agency should sustain the increase of its inspection activities to strengthen enforcement, protect fish stocks, and safeguard the livelihoods of fishers;

15. Reconfirms our commitment to a rule based international system and highlights the important role of the Union in International Ocean Governance and Diplomacy; highlights, in this regard and in relation to the fight against IUU fishing, that the agency has an important role to encourage an increased and harmonised application of the EU control systems in place as well as collaboration with third countries in order to contribute to strengthen a global rules based order and amongst others to combat illegal fishing and ensure that the human rights, including social rights, of those working on fishing vessels are respected;

16. Emphasises that the credibility of the rule-based sustainable fisheries international governance system also depends on the Union’s ability to guarantee that fisheries products imported from third countries to the European market have been produced meeting the same requirements as those for the EU fleets; warns that there is a risk of unfair competition if this coherence is not strictly ensured;

17. Welcomes the support provided by EFCA to the work of the Union within Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) and cooperation with non-EU countries to improve compliance, level playing field and deliver capacity-building; underlines the crucial role of the agency in supporting Member States in the coordinated monitoring of Fisheries Restricted Areas (FRAs) established by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM);

18. Notes with appreciation the Agency’s continued cooperation with the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX) and the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) to support national authorities carrying out coastguard functions in line with Article 8 of Regulation (EU) 2019/473; considers this cooperation to be a good example of cooperation and synergies between Union agencies that should be encouraged and inspire agencies in other areas; calls on the Agency to continue its efforts in that regard;

19. Express its conviction that increasing the cooperation between the Agency and the European Environment Agency (EEA), especially on data sharing, and the European Space Agency (ESA) provides cumulative benefits; welcomes in that regard the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the EEA to exchange information, knowledge and conduct pilot projects at sea, notably a project dedicated to marine litter including monitoring, retrieval, collection, and recycling of abandoned or lost fishing gear in designated maritime areas;

20. Highlights the role of the Agency in offering capacity-building and training to third countries and the Agency’s crucial role in securing a level playing field with all coastal states;

21. Notes that, while IUU fishing remains a serious challenge within EU waters, targeted support and strengthened capacities can enhance compliance and enforcement; emphasises, therefore, that EFCA should continue to reinforce training and support for national authorities, inspectors, and local EU coastal communities to better detect, prevent and combat IUU activities;

22. Underscores the Agency’s vital role in promoting compliance with international fisheries rules and to ensuring a genuine level playing field between the Union and all coastal states, particularly in shared or jointly managed fisheries; notes that coordinated engagement, both externally and within the Union, is essential for safeguarding sustainable fisheries, upholding fair competition, and protecting the long-term social and economic viability of our coastal regions;

23. Notes that, on 31 December 2024, the establishment plan was 97% fulfilled, with 75 temporary agents appointed out of 77 temporary agents authorised under the Union budget; takes note of the increase of staff expenses of 6,7% in comparison with 2023;

24. Highlights the Agency’s commitment to ensure equal treatment for all staff and to achieving gender equality across all grades and responsibility levels; is concern that women continue to represent only 39 % of staff employed at grade AD 8 or higher, a figure that has stagnated since 2021, although the overall percentage of female staff members is 50%; therefore, notes that more must be done to attain parity at management level; reiterates its call for the Agency to implement and strengthen its gender parity strategy and inclusivity policy;

25. Reaffirms its belief that insufficient funding and the absence of a dedicated ring-fenced and autonomous fisheries and aquaculture fund in Commission´s proposal for the Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-2034 will increase difficulties for dedicated collaboration between the Agency and Member States; points out that the lack of sufficient dedicated funding would also have severe negative effects on the EU fishing fleet and its capacity to ensure compliance with the revised Fisheries Control Regulation and by extension might impar the needed implementation of the Common Fisheries Policy;

26. Is also concerned that the lack of sufficient and dedicated fisheries funds in the future MFF will undermine the Agency´s capacity to support the implementation of the CFP, in particular in the harmonisation of fisheries control among Member States, undermine the fight against IUU fishing and reduce level playing field among EU fleets and EU fleets with third countries fleets; regrets the lack of sufficient funding and, therefore, calls on the Commission and Member States to foresee at least identical amounts of constant prices for the Agency's budget in the next MFF;

27. Proposes that discharge be granted to the Executive Director of the Agency in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2024.

ANNEX: DECLARATION OF INPUT

The rapporteur for opinion declares under his exclusive responsibility that he did not include in his opinion input from interest representatives falling within the scope of the Interinstitutional Agreement on a mandatory transparency register, or from representatives of public authorities of third countries, including their diplomatic missions and embassies, to be listed in this Annex pursuant to Article 8 of Annex I to the Rules of Procedure.

INFORMATION ON ADOPTION BY THE COMMITTEE ASKED FOR OPINION