Review of the Common Fisheries Policy

The Commission has started a review of the Common Fisheries Policy to make it more efficient in ensuring the economic viability of the European fleets, conserving fish stocks, integrating with the Maritime Policy and providing good quality food to consumers. The review was launched at an informal Council meeting on 29 September 2008 on basis of a working paper by the Commission ( ~ 53 Kb) with an initial analysis and discussion of some options for reform.

The review will be led by the Directorate General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. It will be based on an analysis of the achievements and shortcomings of the current policy, and will look at experiences from other fisheries management systems to identify potential avenues for future action. On 22 April 2009, the Commission adopted a Green Paper on a reform of the Common Fisheries Policy ( ~ 190 Kb) to trigger and encourage public debate and to elicit views on the future CFP. The Commission will use the results of the broad public consultation to enrich and validate its analysis and evaluation of options for a reform. After the public debate the Commission will develop a proposal to be presented to the Council and the European Parliament with a view to adoption for a reform to be in effect from 2013.

For more information on the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy, please see the CFP reform sub site.

• Information on the previous reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (2002)