The EPP-CoR has warned that proposed cuts to EU funding for fisheries and aquaculture would weaken coastal communities, threaten food security and undermine Europe's long-term maritime resilience. During an exchange of views with European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans Costas Kadis at the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) plenary session EPP-CoR members called on the co-legislators to maintain dedicated funding for fisheries, aquaculture and coastal communities at least at current levels under the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2028-2034.
CoR rapporteur Thibaut Guignard (FR/EPP), Mayor of Ploeuc-l'Hermitage, said: "Fisheries and aquaculture are strategic sectors for the EU, essential to ensuring food security, territorial cohesion and the development of coastal communities. Within the European Committee of the Regions, we call for strong, stable and dedicated financial support for the Common Fisheries Policy in order to address all the social, economic and environmental challenges facing the sector. We also support generational renewal and the strengthening of community-led local development approaches, as well as the key role of regional and local authorities in building a truly sustainable future for European fisheries."
The debate took place alongside the adoption of the CoR opinion on the future of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), the European Ocean Pact and the Union's maritime and aquaculture policy. Members expressed particular concern that fisheries and aquaculture face the largest proportional funding reduction of any EU policy area in the Commission's proposal for the next EU budget.
To safeguard the future of the sector, the Committee calls for a ring-fenced fisheries budget at least equivalent to the current programming period, together with a dedicated fisheries and aquaculture chapter within the National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs) to preserve the visibility and autonomy of the Common Fisheries Policy. The opinion also requests an ex-ante territorial assessment of the socio-economic impact of the future funding framework, with particular attention to islands, outermost regions and other remote coastal territories.
Members stressed that fisheries and aquaculture remain economically, socially and culturally essential for many European coastal regions. Beyond supporting employment, processing industries, logistics and tourism, the sector strengthens Europe's food sovereignty, preserves maritime heritage and contributes to resilient local economies. Local and regional authorities also play a central role in implementing the Common Fisheries Policy and the European Ocean Pact through fisheries management, coastal development, innovation, training and enforcement.
The opinion further warns that insufficient investment could accelerate the contraction of the sector at a time when it is already facing mounting challenges from climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution and an ageing workforce. It therefore calls for increased support for ecosystem restoration, fleet modernisation, decarbonisation, innovation and generational renewal, while reinforcing assistance for small-scale coastal fisheries, quality employment, safer working conditions and gender equality.
The Committee concludes that the future of Europe's fisheries cannot be secured without fully involving local and regional authorities in the design, implementation and monitoring of EU fisheries and maritime policies, in line with the principles of multilevel governance.
