Regulation 2014/508 - European Maritime and Fisheries Fund - Main contents
Contents
European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (2014-2020)
SUMMARY OF:
Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 — the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund
WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE REGULATION?
The European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) aims to help coastal populations and those working in the fishing and aquaculture sectors to adapt to the newly reformed EU common fisheries policy (CFP) for the period 2014-2020.
KEY POINTS
Budget and priorities
With a budget of €6.5 billion for the 2014-2020 period, the EMFF aims to:
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-rebuild fish stocks, reduce the impact of fishing on the marine environment and gradually eliminate discards — the dumping at sea of unwanted catches — returning fish to the sea either dead or alive because they are too small, because the fisherman has no quota to catch them or because of certain catch composition rules;
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-support small-scale, local fishing and young fishermen;
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-help communities to diversify their local economy;
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-fund projects that will create jobs and improve the quality of life on Europe’s coasts;
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-support European aquaculture (fish and shellfish farming);
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-finance the improvement of scientific knowledge of the marine environment and the collection of relevant data so that decisions are taken based on reliable information;
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-strengthen fishery control programmes;
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-support innovative investments in fishing vessels, for example, to improve fishing gear selectivity (gear that targets and captures fish by size and species and allows other fish to be avoided or to be released unharmed);
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-support (under certain conditions) investments in equipment or on board aimed at reducing the emission of pollutants or greenhouse gases;
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-improve the marketing and processing in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors;
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-support the EU’s integrated maritime policy by facilitating coordination across borders and between sectors (for example maritime spatial planning, integrated maritime surveillance and improving knowledge on the state of the marine environment).
Implementation
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-The EMFF co-finances projects with EU countries that provide national funding. EU countries draw up an operational programme stating how they intend to spend the money allocated. Once the European Commission approves these programmes, it is up to the national authorities to decide which projects will be funded.
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-Since the adoption of Regulation (EU) No 508/2014, the Commission has adopted rules mainly dealing with detailed technical aspects of its implementation. These include:
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-how EU countries should present cumulative data on fishing operations and the information that they need to provide to the Commission;
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-the contents and setting up of a system to monitor and evaluate the operations that receive funding;
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-the format and presentation of annual reports of funded programmes;
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-detailed conditions on interrupting and suspending of payments to EU countries that do not comply with the CFP rules.
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COVID-19 pandemic — amendment to the regulation
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-Regulation (EU) 2020/560 amends Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 introducing specific measures to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. There has been a significant drop in demand for fishery and aquaculture products following the outbreak with serious socio-economic consequences in those communities where fishing and aquaculture play a major role.
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-The amended regulation allows the EMFF to provide support for:
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-the temporary cessation of fishing activities, including for inland fishing and fishermen on foot;
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-certain economic losses for aquaculture producers and processing enterprises and in the outermost regions, if they are due to the COVID‐19 outbreak.
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-The measures may also involve providing working capital to aquaculture producers and processing enterprises, and support for producer organisations and associations of producer organisations for the storage of fishery and aquaculture products.
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-This regulation also allows a more flexible reallocation of financial resources within the operational programme of each EU country and simplifies the procedure for amending operational programmes.
FROM WHEN DOES THE REGULATION APPLY?
It has applied since 1 January 2014. The temporary measures related to the COVID-19 outbreak apply retroactively as of 1 February 2020 and are available until 31 December 2020.
BACKGROUND
The EMFF is the financial instrument supporting the CFP for the 2014-2020 period. It is one of the 5 European Structural and Investment Funds that complement each other and aim to promote a recovery in Europe based on growth and jobs.
MAIN DOCUMENT
Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2328/2003, (EC) No 861/2006, (EC) No 1198/2006 and (EC) No 791/2007 and Regulation (EU) No 1255/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 149, 20.5.2014, pp. 1-66)
Successive amendments to Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 have been incorporated into the original text. This consolidated version is of documentary value only.
RELATED DOCUMENTS
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/852 of 27 March 2015 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the cases of non-compliance and the cases of serious non-compliance with the rules of the common fisheries policy that may lead to an interruption of a payment deadline or suspension of payments under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (OJ L 135, 2.6.2015, pp. 13-17)
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1362/2014 of 18 December 2014 laying down rules on a simplified procedure for the approval of certain amendments to operational programmes financed under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and rules concerning the format and presentation of the annual reports on the implementation of those programmes (OJ L 365, 19.12.2014, pp. 124-136)
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1243/2014 of 20 November 2014 laying down rules pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund with regard to the information to be sent by Member States, as well as on data needs and synergies between potential data sources (OJ L 334, 21.11.2014, pp. 39-51)
See consolidated version.
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1242/2014 of 20 November 2014 laying down rules pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund with regard to the presentation of relevant cumulative data on operations (OJ L 334, 21.11.2014, pp. 11-38)
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1014/2014 of 22 July 2014 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2328/2003, (EC) No 861/2006, (EC) No 1198/2006 and (EC) No 791/2007 and Regulation (EU) No 1255/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regards to the content and construction of a common monitoring and evaluation system for the operations funded under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (OJ L 283, 27.9.2014, pp. 11-19)
See consolidated version.
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 763/2014 of 11 July 2014 laying down rules for applying Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund as regards the technical characteristics of information and publicity measures and instructions for creating the Union emblem (OJ L 209, 16.7.2014, pp. 1-4)
Commission Implementing Decision 2014/372/EU of 11 June 2014 setting out the annual breakdown by Member State of the global resources of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund available in the framework of shared management for the period 2014-2020 (notified under document C(2014) 3781) (OJ L 180, 20.6.2014, pp. 18-20)
last update 09.06.2020
This summary has been adopted from EUR-Lex.
Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2328/2003, (EC) No 861/2006, (EC) No 1198/2006 and (EC) No 791/2007 and Regulation (EU) No 1255/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council