The EU Parliament’s Fisheries Committee backs RFMO measures, transposing stock management rules into EU law for EU fishing fleet clarity
Committee Vote Clears Technical Transposition of RFMO Rules
The European Parliament’s Fisheries Committee has backed the transposition into EU law of measures adopted by six regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs), in what is described as a technical but legally necessary exercise.
MEPs voted by 19 in favour, three against and four abstentions to endorse proposals covering measures agreed between 2018 and 2024. A separate vote authorised the opening of interinstitutional negotiations with EU governments, passing by 22 votes to three, with one abstention.
The European Union is currently a member of 18 RFMOs worldwide. These organisations adopt conservation and management measures for shared and highly migratory fish stocks, particularly species that move across multiple jurisdictions or are fished in international waters.
For those measures to apply uniformly to EU vessels, they must be formally incorporated into EU legislation. Without that step, there would be legal uncertainty for the EU fishing fleet and potential imbalance between EU operators and third-country vessels fishing under the same RFMO frameworks.
The process is largely procedural. The conservation and management rules have already been negotiated and agreed at international level. The role of the EU legislator is to transpose them into Union law to ensure enforceability, monitoring and sanctions across Member States.
Legal Clarity Versus Legislative Burden
Following the vote, Thomas Bajada, MEP for Malta and rapporteur on the file, argued that the Parliament’s position prioritises both legal clarity and timely implementation.
“The European Parliament’s position ensures the strict and timely transposition of the RFMO recommendations, while improving legal clarity and accessibility for our fishers and citizens,” Thomas Bajada (S&D, Malta), rapporteur on the file, said after the vote.
He acknowledged, however, that the decision to merge measures from several RFMOs into a single legislative dossier had created complexity.
“As rapporteur, I led the negotiations to deliver a coherent and legally sound outcome, investing significant political and technical efforts to make this complex transposition exercise a success. However, merging measures from several RFMOs into one vast dossier made the process unnecessarily heavy. While we delivered, I believe that such an omnibus approach should be avoided and that future similar technical transposition exercises should be more focused to their respective RFMO, to allow proper scrutiny and accountability,” Bajada added.
He concluded: “I now look forward to working with the Council to secure a strong final outcome for our fishers.”
Six RFMOs Covered in the Package
The Commission proposal transposes measures agreed under six separate organisations:
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International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas
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Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization
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South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation
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Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission
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Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission
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Indian Ocean Tuna Commission
Collectively, these bodies manage some of the world’s most commercially valuable and politically sensitive stocks, including tunas, swordfish, small pelagics and deep-sea species.
The European Commission argues that the transposition strengthens the EU’s external fisheries governance by ensuring that international commitments are fully reflected in domestic law. In practice, this means updated technical conservation measures, control obligations and reporting requirements for EU vessels operating in the relevant convention areas.
Next Steps Under Cyprus Presidency
Parliament’s negotiating mandate must now be confirmed in plenary in March. If endorsed, interinstitutional negotiations with the Council will begin under the Cyprus Presidency.
While the exercise is presented as technical, it underscores the extent to which the EU fishing industry operates within a dense web of international governance structures. For the fishing sector, the practical impact will depend less on the vote itself and more on how consistently the transposed rules are applied and enforced across Member States — and whether competing fleets from third countries are subject to equivalent scrutiny.
