Regulation (EU) 2021/1139 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 July 2021 establishing the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund and amending Regulation (EU) 2017/1004

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 42, Article 43(2), Article 91(1), Article 100(2), Article 173(3), Article 175, Article 188, Article 192(1), Article 194(2), Article 195(2) and Article 349 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (2),

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (3),

Whereas:

(1) The European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (the ‘EMFAF’) should be established for the period from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2027 in order to align its duration with that of the multiannual financial framework (the ‘MFF 2021-2027’) laid down in Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093 (4). This Regulation should lay down the priorities of the EMFAF, its budget and the specific rules for providing Union funding, complementing the general rules applicable to the EMFAF under Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5). The EMFAF should aim to channel funding from the Union budget to support the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), the Union’s maritime policy and the Union’s international commitments in the field of ocean governance. Such funding is a key enabler for sustainable fisheries and the conservation of marine biological resources, for food security through the supply of seafood products, for the growth of a sustainable blue economy and for healthy, safe, secure, clean and sustainably managed seas and oceans.

(2) As a global ocean actor and one of the world’s largest producers of seafood, the Union has a strong responsibility to protect, conserve and sustainably use the oceans and their resources. Indeed, preserving seas and oceans is vital for a rapidly growing world population. It is also of socio-economic interest for the Union as a sustainable blue economy boosts investments, jobs and growth, fosters research and innovation and contributes to energy security through ocean energy. Moreover, efficient border control and the global fight against maritime crime are essential for safe and secure seas and oceans, thereby addressing citizens’ security concerns.

(3) Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 has been adopted in order to improve the coordination and harmonise the implementation of support from Funds under shared management (the ‘Funds’), with the main aim of simplifying policy delivery in a coherent way. That Regulation applies to the part of the EMFAF under shared management. The Funds pursue complementary objectives and share the same management mode. Therefore, Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 sets out a series of common general objectives and general principles such as partnership and multi-level governance. It also contains the common elements of strategic planning and programming, including provisions on the Partnership Agreement to be concluded with each Member State, and sets out a common approach to the performance orientation of the Funds. Accordingly, it sets out enabling conditions, a performance review and arrangements for monitoring, reporting and evaluation. Furthermore, it sets out common provisions with regard to eligibility rules, and special arrangements are established for financial instruments, for the use of InvestEU established by Regulation (EU) 2021/523 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6), for community-led local development (CLLD) and for financial management. Some management and control arrangements are also common to all the Funds. Complementarities between the Funds, including the EMFAF, and other Union programmes should be described in the Partnership Agreement, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2021/1060.

(4) Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council (7) (the ‘Financial Regulation’) applies to the EMFAF. The Financial Regulation lays down rules on the implementation of the Union budget, including the rules on grants, prizes, procurement, indirect management, financial instruments, budgetary guarantees, financial assistance and the reimbursement of external experts.

(5) Horizontal financial rules adopted by the European Parliament and the Council on the basis of Article 322 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) apply to this Regulation. Those rules are laid down in the Financial Regulation and determine in particular the procedure for establishing and implementing the budget through grants, prizes, indirect management, financial instruments, budgetary guarantees, financial assistance and the reimbursement of external experts and provide for checks on the responsibility of financial actors. Rules adopted on the basis of Article 322 TFEU also include a general regime of conditionality for the protection of the Union budget.

(6) Under direct management, the EMFAF should develop synergies and complementarities with other relevant Union funds and programmes. It should also allow financing in the form of financial instruments within blending operations implemented under Regulation (EU) 2021/523.

(7) Support under the EMFAF should have a clear European added value, inter alia, by addressing market failures or suboptimal investment situations in a proportionate manner, and should not duplicate or crowd out private financing or distort competition in the internal market.

(8) Articles 107, 108 and 109 TFEU should apply to the aid granted by Member States to undertakings in the fishery and aquaculture sector under this Regulation. Nevertheless, given the specific characteristics of that sector, those Articles should not apply to payments made by Member States pursuant to this Regulation and falling within the scope of Article 42 TFEU.

(9) The types of financing and the methods of implementation under this Regulation should be chosen on the basis of their ability to achieve the priorities set for the actions and to deliver results, taking into account, in particular, the costs of controls, the administrative burden, and the expected risk of non-compliance. This should include consideration of the use of lump sums, flat rates and unit costs, as well as financing not linked to costs as referred to in Article 125(1) of the Financial Regulation.

(10) The MFF 2021-2027 provides that the Union budget is to continue to support fisheries and maritime policies. The EMFAF budget should amount, in current prices, to EUR 6 108 000 000. EMFAF resources should be split between shared management and direct and indirect management. EUR 5 311 000 000 should be allocated to support under shared management and EUR 797 000 000 to support under direct and indirect management. In order to ensure stability, in particular with regard to the achievement of the objectives of the CFP, the definition of national allocations under shared management for the 2021-2027 programming period should be based on the 2014-2020 shares under Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (8) (the ‘EMFF’). Specific amounts should be reserved for the outermost regions, for control and enforcement, and for collection and processing of data for fisheries management and scientific purposes, while amounts for certain investments in fishing vessels and for permanent and temporary cessation of fishing activities should be capped.

(11) Europe’s maritime sector employs over 5 million people, generating almost EUR 750 000 000 000 in turnover and EUR 218 000 000 000 in gross added value per year, with a potential to create many more jobs. The output of the global ocean economy is estimated at EUR 1 300 000 000 000 today and this could more than double by 2030. The need to meet CO2 emission targets, increase resource efficiency and reduce the environmental footprint of the blue economy has been a significant driving force for innovation in other sectors such as marine equipment, shipbuilding, ocean observation, dredging, coastal protection and marine construction. Investment in the maritime economy has been provided through Union structural funds, in particular the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the EMFAF. New investment tools such as InvestEU could be utilised to meet the growth potential of the maritime sector.

(12) The EMFAF should be based on four priorities: fostering sustainable fisheries and the restoration and conservation of aquatic biological resources; fostering sustainable aquaculture activities, and processing and marketing of fishery and aquaculture products, thus contributing to food security in the Union; enabling a sustainable blue economy in coastal, island and inland areas, and fostering the development of fishing and aquaculture communities; strengthening international ocean governance and enabling seas and oceans to be safe, secure, clean and sustainably managed. Those priorities should be pursued through shared, direct and indirect management.

(13) The EMFAF should be based on a simple architecture without predefining measures and detailed eligibility rules at Union level in an overly prescriptive manner. Instead, broad specific objectives should be described under each priority. Member States should therefore prepare their programmes indicating therein the most appropriate means for achieving those objectives. A variety of measures identified by the Member States in those programmes might be supported under the rules set out in this Regulation and Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, provided they are covered by the specific objectives identified in this Regulation. However, it is necessary to set out a list of ineligible operations so as to avoid detrimental impact in terms of fisheries conservation. Moreover, investments and compensation for the fleet should be strictly conditional upon their consistency with the conservation objectives of the CFP.

(14) The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (the ‘2030 Agenda’) identified conservation and sustainable use of oceans as one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), namely SDG 14 (‘Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development’). The Union is fully committed to that goal and its implementation. In that context, it has committed to promote a sustainable blue economy which is consistent with maritime spatial planning, the conservation of biological resources and the achievement of a good environmental status as set out in Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (9), as well as to prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies which contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, to eliminate subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and to refrain from introducing new such subsidies. The latter outcome should result from the negotiations within the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on fisheries subsidies. In addition, in the course of the WTO negotiations at the 2002 World Summit of Sustainable Development and at the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), the Union has committed to eliminate subsidies contributing to fisheries overcapacity and overfishing.

(15) Reflecting the importance of tackling climate change in line with the Union’s commitments to implement the Paris Agreement, and the commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the actions under this Regulation should contribute to the achievement of a 30 % target of all expenditure under the MFF 2021-2027 spent on mainstreaming climate objectives and should contribute to the ambition of providing 7,5 % of annual spending under the MFF 2021-2027 to biodiversity objectives in 2024 and 10 % of annual spending under the MFF 2021-2027 to biodiversity objectives in 2026 and 2027, while considering the existing overlaps between climate and biodiversity goals.

(16) The EMFAF should contribute to the achievement of the environmental and climate change mitigation and adaptation objectives of the Union. That contribution should be tracked through the application of Union environmental and climate markers and reported regularly in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2021/1060.

(17) In accordance with Article 42 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (10), Union financial assistance under the EMFAF should be conditional upon compliance with the rules of the CFP. Applications from operators that have committed serious infringements of the rules of the CFP should not be admissible.

(18) In order to address the specific conditions of the CFP referred to in Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 and to contribute to compliance with the rules of the CFP, provisions additional to the rules on interruption, suspension and financial corrections as set out in Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 should be laid down. Where a Member State has failed to comply with its obligations under the CFP, or where the Commission has evidence that suggests such lack of compliance, the Commission should, as a precautionary measure, be allowed to interrupt payment deadlines. In addition to the possibility of interruption of the payment deadline, and in order to avoid an evident risk of paying out ineligible expenditure, the Commission should be allowed to suspend payments and impose financial corrections in cases of serious non-compliance with the rules of the CFP by a Member State.

(19) Steps have been taken over the last few years towards bringing fish stocks back to healthy levels, towards increasing the profitability of the Union’s fishing industry and towards conserving marine ecosystems. However, substantial challenges remain to fully achieve the socio-economic and environmental objectives of the CFP, in particular the objectives of restoring and maintaining populations of harvested species above levels which can produce the maximum sustainable yield (MSY), of eliminating unwanted catches and of establishing fish stock recovery areas. Achieving those objectives requires continued support beyond 2020, particularly in sea basins where progress has been slower.

(20) The EMFAF should contribute to achieving the environmental, economic, social and employment objectives of the CFP, as set out in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, in particular the objectives of restoring and maintaining populations of harvested species above levels which can produce MSY, of avoiding and reducing, as far as possible, unwanted catches and of minimising the negative impact of fishing activities on the marine ecosystem. Such support should ensure that fishing activities are environmentally sustainable in the long term and are managed in a way that is consistent with the objectives set out in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, with a view to achieving economic, social and employment benefits, contributing to the availability of healthy food supplies and contributing to a fair standard of living for those who depend on fishing activities, bearing in mind coastal fisheries and socio-economic aspects. That support should include innovation and investments in low-impact, selective, climate-resilient and low-carbon fishing practices and techniques.

(21) Fisheries are vital to the livelihood and cultural heritage of many coastal communities in the Union, in particular where small-scale coastal fishing plays an important role. With the average age in many fishing communities being over 50, generational renewal and diversification of activities remain a challenge. In particular, the creation and development of new economic activities in the fisheries sector by young fishers is financially challenging and constitutes an element that should be considered in the allocation and targeting of funds under the EMFAF. Such development is essential for the competitiveness of the fisheries sector in the Union. Consequently, support for young fishers starting up fishing activities should be made available in order to facilitate their establishment. In order to ensure the viability of new economic activities supported under the EMFAF, support should be made conditional upon the acquisition of adequate experience or qualifications. Where support for business start-up is granted for the acquisition of a fishing vessel, it should only contribute to the acquisition of the first fishing vessel or of a controlling share thereof.

(22) Avoiding unwanted catches is one of the main challenges of the CFP. In that respect, the legal obligation to land all catches has entailed significant and important changes in fishing practices for the sector, sometimes with an important financial cost. It should therefore be possible for the EMFAF to support innovation and investments that contribute to the full implementation of the landing obligation, as well as the development and implementation of conservation measures contributing to selectivity. It should be possible to grant a higher aid intensity rate to investments in selective fishing gear, in the improvement of port infrastructures and in the marketing of unwanted catches, than the one that applies to other operations. It should also be possible to grant a maximum aid intensity rate of 100 % to the design, development, monitoring, evaluation and management of transparent systems for exchanging fishing opportunities between Member States (‘quota swaps’), in order to mitigate the ‘choke species’ effect caused by the landing obligation.