Today, the European Parliament, in a coordinated effort with the Council of the EU, swiftly adopted a modification of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF 2014-2022) to alleviate the consequences of the military aggression of Russia against Ukraine on fishing activities. Europêche welcomes the swift adoption of this legislative proposal, steered by the rapporteur Nuno Melo (EPP, PT), which will allow the use of additional crisis measures to support fishermen. Particularly, EU funding will be made available to compensate for additional costs, income forgone and the storage of seafood, as well as for the temporary cessation of fishing activities. As for the latter measure, thanks to the European Parliament, aid will be extended for companies that temporarily cannot continue fishing due to economic constrains. The sector now calls on all EU Member States to activate these measures as a matter of urgency.

Three months ago, the European Commission presented its proposal, putting forward the necessary legislative modifications to allow Member States more flexibility to reallocate funds under the (EMFF) to specific measures mitigating the socio-economic impact of the crisis. Both the Council and the Parliament also modified EMFF-provisions to allow aid for those fleets forced to stay in the port due to the financial constraints. For many ship-owners, going out at sea, means losing money.

According to Europêche, the situation is critical in many fishing ports in Europe. Sky-rocketing energy prices are preventing numerous fishing companies from breaking even. The situation is expected not to improve over the next few months, if anything, quite the opposite. EU estimates show that if fuel prices will continue at this level, the EU-27 fishing fleet would have losses of € 300 million in the operating profit, risking the sustainability of the fleet.

Daniel Voces, managing director or Europêche, declared: “The financial package will certainly help bringing relief and stability to fishermen and the markets. The goal is no doubt to adopt all necessary measures to secure fish operations and the supply of seafood to the market. The EU fleet, as food producers, has taken the responsibility to continue fishing during the different crisis and pandemic periods”. 

EU governments are reacting differently to the situation and adopting measures at a different pace and extent. Fishermen in many EU countries are not receiving funding in time, or in sufficient quantity, to compensate for the huge price increases. It is now fundamental that the Commission pushes national authorities to quickly put in place these measures as a matter of urgency and to use state aid tools to mitigate the consequences of the crisis.

Furthermore, the European Commission should carry out an analysis of the cumulative effect of the war not only on rising energy prices but also on new legislation such as ‘Fit for 55’, which risk having dire consequences on EU businesses to pay their energy bills and to continue providing seafood.

Press contacts: 

Rosalie Tukker, Senior Policy Advisor, Europêche +32 2 230 48 48 rosalie.tukker@europeche.org

EP Press Release – EMFF aid package Ukraine

Photo by Thomas Millot on Unsplash

Just a couple of weeks ago the European Commission presented its proposal, putting forward the necessary legislative modifications to allow Member States more flexibility to reallocate funds under the EMFF so they could be destined to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus where needed. The Commission also modified EMFF-provisions to allow aid for those fleets forced to stay in the port due to quarantine measures, operational problems or market disruptions. Both the Council and the Parliament, in an unprecedented and rapid manner, not only endorsed the proposal but added further flexibility. These EU institutions included new vessels and fishermen on foot, who are mostly women, as eligible for support in case of temporary cessation as requested by the industry.

Ment van der Zwan, Europêche’s spokesman on social affairs, declared: “We welcome the extraordinary measures quickly adopted by EU authorities. We still urge the European Commission to take further steps to effectively cope with the crisis. These should include the possibility to transfer up to 25% of this year’s unused quota to 2021, measures to compensate the loss of income of fishermen suffering a huge fall in first-sale prices and the injection of extra-funding for countries that have spent most of their available national funding under the EMFF. On top of this, we call on the Commission to launch a seafood promotion campaign in order to boost consumption levels throughout the EU and recognise the hard work and dedication of our fishermen.”

Juan Manuel Trujillo, workers’ spokesman in the EU social dialogue committee on sea-fisheries,  concluded: “The financial package will certainly bring relief and stability to fishermen and their families. As food providers, they need to be identified as essential workers at all levels. In this context, we call on EU institutions to put all efforts to find solutions for the safe repatriation of fishermen who are enduring travel and disembarkation restrictions across the world, allowing for the necessary crew changes. Furthermore, they need priority access to Covid-19 tests and protection means such as masks and gloves.”

The EU Social Partners call upon the Member States to fully implement these extraordinary measures in an effective and balanced manner in order to compensate and relieve both operators and workers to guarantee a future for local fishing communities and the European industry overall.

Press contacts:

Daniel Voces, Managing Director of Europêche: +32 2 230 48 48  daniel.voces@europeche.org

Andrea Albertazzi, ETF Political Secretary: +32 2 28 54 588    a.albertazzi@etf-europe.org

EP and ETF Press Release – COVID 19 EMFF