Implementation into Union law of measures adopted by several Regional Fisheries Management Organisations
A proposed EU law. Parliament and the Council must agree on the same text: Parliament adopts its position, then negotiates with the Council.
Where it stands: Parliament adopted its position on 15 September 2026. Negotiations with the Council on a common text are under way.
- ✓ Referred to committee 16 June 2025
- ✓ Committee work Report adopted 25 February 2026
- ✓ Tabled for plenary 3 March 2026
- ✓ Plenary vote Adopted 15 September 2026
- 5 Negotiations with the Council Mandate 11 March 2026
- 6 Published as law
How a file moves through Parliament
A file is referred to one lead committee (others may give an opinion). Its rapporteur writes a draft report, committee members table amendments, and the committee votes to adopt the report. The report is then tabled for all MEPs; political groups can table further amendments, which are voted on before the final vote in plenary. For a law, Parliament’s adopted text is its first-reading position; Parliament and the Council then negotiate a common text (trilogues) which both must approve before it is published as law.
Who is working on it
- Lead committee
- PECH — Fisheries
- Rapporteur
- Thomas BAJADA S&D
- Shadow rapporteurs
- Željana ZOVKO PPESéverine WERBROUCK PfEStephen Nikola BARTULICA ECREmma WIESNER RenewIsabella LÖVIN Verts/ALE
- For opinion
- ENVI — Environment, Climate and Food Safety
The rapporteur drafts and negotiates the text for the lead committee; each other political group names a shadow rapporteur to follow the file.
The text, version by version
Committee draft → Tabled for plenary: Adds new prohibitions and reporting duties, including a ban on catching cetaceans by longline and purse seine vessels, a ban on fishing in silky shark pupping areas, and rules on bluefin tuna margins of error. Changes reporting and notification duties for member states and the Commission on inspection vessels, vulnerable marine ecosystems, instrumented buoys and DFAD marking. Adds recitals on food sovereignty, socio-economic impact, strict transposition and delegated acts, and requires the Commission to engage with Parliament and the Council and assess the transposition process every three years. Extends the one-specimen retention limit for South Atlantic shortfin mako to smaller vessels, changes the time format to 23:59, adds a definition of electronic monitoring, and drops a sentence from the explanatory statement. The other changes are formal or wording: corrected citations, cross-references, punctuation and rephrased provisions. see the changes →
Newest version first. Open a version to read it in full. “What changed” shows the differences paragraph by paragraph; ✦ lines are AI-written from the texts themselves.
Timeline
- 15 September 2026 Plenary decision
- Plenary stage
- 15 September 2026 Plenary voteAdopted Adopted by an overwhelming majorityFor 559 Against 48 Abstained 62
Final vote on the provisional agreement at 13:29 · 84% of votes cast in favour · every MEP’s position →
- 9 September – 11 September 2026 292 amendments tabled for the plenary vote
Groups propose changes to the tabled text; each is voted on before the final vote.
- 6 May 2026 Committee approve provisional agreement
- Negotiations with the Council
- 11 March 2026 Plenary endorsed the mandate to negotiate with the Council
Parliament’s negotiators can now seek a compromise text with the Council (a "trilogue").
- Plenary stage
- 3 March 2026 Report tabled for plenary
This is the text all MEPs vote on. Political groups can still table amendments to it.
- Committee stage
- 25 February 2026 Committee vote: report adopted
PECH (Fisheries) voted on the amendments and adopted the report that goes to plenary.
- 11 December 2025 Amendments tabled in committee
Members of PECH (Fisheries) proposed changes to the draft.
- 13 November 2025 Draft report published
The rapporteur’s first text in PECH (Fisheries). Members can table amendments before the committee votes.
- 16 June 2025 Referred to the PECH (Fisheries) committee
The lead committee prepares the report; ENVI (Environment, Climate and Food Safety) gives an opinion.