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The multiannual plan for the Baltic Sea and ways forward

TA-10-2026-0189 · P10_TA(2026)0189 · PE778.399

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✦ In short · AI summary of this text, generated 4 Sept 2026

Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text. The paragraph links open the paragraph a statement rests on — check the text itself before relying on it.

Parliament's resolution on the Baltic Sea multiannual plan calls for urgent actions to recover fish stocks, improve scientific advice, address environmental pressures, and consider legal changes, including a possible revision of the Baltic MAP Regulation. It urges the Commission and Member States to move to a recovery and rebuilding phase, adopt precautionary TACs, support small-scale fisheries, and tackle issues like bycatch, misreporting, and the impact of predators and dumped munitions. It calls for better scientific advice from ICES, including ecosystem-based and multi-species approaches, and for the Commission to consider environmental stressors and socio-economic factors in management decisions. It requests a coordinated plan to address stressors, investment in sewage treatment, and action against Russia's unsustainable fishing and shadow fleet, while urging an evaluation and possible revision of the Baltic MAP Regulation.

Key points

  1. Calls on the Commission and Council to use all available legal and management tools to prevent further decline of Baltic fish stocks.
  2. Urges a recovery and rebuilding phase for fish stocks, considering remedial measures like suspending targeted fisheries, while avoiding measures that undermine socio-economic stability.
  3. Calls for a dedicated Baltic fisheries recovery and transition fund to support fleet restructuring, modernisation, and compensation for losses.
  4. Calls on the Council to adopt TACs aligned with the precautionary approach, considering ecosystem vulnerability and socio-economic factors.
  5. Highlights the importance of small-scale fisheries and calls for improving their socio-economic situation, including through quota allocations and differentiated access rules.
  6. Urges the Commission to request ICES to develop ecosystem-based, multi-species advice and consider environmental stressors in the Baltic Sea.
  7. Calls for a science-based, coordinated plan to address key stressors affecting the Baltic Sea, with inclusive governance and stakeholder engagement.
  8. Calls for increased investment in sewage treatment and pollution retention systems to improve water quality.
  9. Calls for targeted management measures for great cormorants and grey seals, and for an EU cormorant management plan.
  10. Urges coordinated action to locate, assess, and remove unexploded ordnance from the Baltic Sea.
  11. Condemns Russia's unsustainable fishing and shadow fleet activities, calling for measures to pressure Russia and close loopholes.
  12. Urges the Commission to evaluate and possibly revise the Baltic MAP Regulation, including considering salmon and trout as bycatch stocks.

Who is affected

  • Baltic Sea fish stocks and the fisheries sector, including small-scale coastal fishers.
  • Coastal communities and fishing enterprises in the Baltic Sea region.
  • Member States and the Commission, responsible for implementing fisheries management.
  • Russia, whose fishing practices and shadow fleet are condemned.

Figures and deadlines

  • 92 % of vessels in the Baltic Sea are small-scale coastal fisheries, landing 7 % of total weight but 22 % of landed value.
  • Recreational fisheries generate about EUR 1,5 billion and support over 14 000 full-time equivalent jobs.
  • Baltic Sea warming at twice the rate of the global ocean average.

Legal basis: Article 3(3) TEU, Articles 4, 43(3) and 191 TFEU, and Article 37 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights