The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is a set of rules for managing fishing fleets and conserving fish stocks. The CFP was first introduced in the 1970s and went through successive updates, the most recent of which was proposed by the Commission in July 2011.
This is the first time that Parliament has been involved in the reform of the CFP with codecision powers, as a result of the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty.
The reform seeks to bring fish stocks back to sustainable levels, put an end to wasteful fishing practices, and create new opportunities for jobs and growth in coastal areas.
The package comprises two Regulations: one on the CFP itself and another one on the common organisation of the markets in fishery and aquaculture products.
The first Regulation aims at reforming the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), and it contains a number of new important components such as the concept of Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY), the banning of discards and regionalisation.
The second Regulation aims to contribute to sustainable fishing and aquaculture activities, by helping producers to better manage their production and marketing activities, simplifying the measures for the stabilisation of markets, and improving information provided to consumers.
The main issues during the negotiations were the concept of MSY, how to deal with discards and the issue of regionalisation. Parliament had to give up the idea of having an obligation to achieve MSY for all fisheries by 2015, and the final date agreed was 2020. A 5% tolerance and other exemptions were also introduced as regards the discard ban, where Parliament wanted a total ban on discards. Transferable fishing quotas, which were part of the Commission proposal, were not accepted by the Parliament and Council.
Political agreement was reached after intense negotiations at several trilogues. Since the Parliament was broadly satisfied with the Council's position, it finally endorsed the final agreements as early second reading agreements (i.e. a plenary vote without amendments to the Council's position) in December 2013.
The new CFP entered into force on 1 January 2014.