Europêche Urges Deeper Reforms Following EU Simplification Package Announcement

Fishing Industry Calls for Comprehensive Review of Fisheries Regulations

Europêche, the leading organisation representing Europe’s fishing industry, has welcomed the European Commission’s Omnibus Simplification Package, presented today by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. While the industry sees the package as a positive first step towards reducing regulatory burdens, Europêche is calling for a broader review of fisheries and environmental policies to improve the sector’s competitiveness and economic viability while maintaining sustainability goals.

The Omnibus Simplification Package is designed to streamline existing EU sustainability regulations, including:

• The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)
• The EU Taxonomy Regulation
• The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD)

By consolidating these frameworks, the Commission aims to eliminate redundancies, lower compliance costs, and provide much-needed regulatory clarity—particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Administrative Burdens Threaten the Future of European Fisheries

Europêche has long argued that the growing complexity of EU fisheries regulations is harming the industry’s economic viability, with compliance costs, fishing ground closures, and bureaucratic inefficiencies putting pressure on businesses. Since 2000, the EU fishing fleet has shrunk by 28%, and full-time employment in the industry has fallen by 33%.

The Commission’s Competitiveness Compass initiative aims to reduce the administrative burden on businesses by 25% and on SMEs by at least 35%. However, Europêche warns that this effort must go beyond reporting obligations and address:

• High compliance costs
• Excessive taxation
• Fishing ground closures
• Regulatory inefficiencies

The organisation is calling for a comprehensive review of all fisheries-related policies, including new regulations such as the Control Regulation and the Nature Restoration Law. This would follow the review of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in 2023, which sought to balance sustainability with economic realities.

Industry Demands a Structured Consultation with Fisheries Stakeholders

Europêche supports the ongoing screening exercise by DG MARE, which seeks to identify areas where fisheries regulations can be simplified. However, the organisation is urging the Commission to establish a structured consultation process with industry stakeholders to:

• Pinpoint specific regulatory challenges
• Propose practical solutions to reduce administrative burdens
• Ensure coherence across fisheries, sustainability, and economic policies

A Call for Smarter, More Sustainable Regulation

Daniel Voces, Managing Director of Europêche, welcomed the Commission’s initiative but stressed the need for deeper reforms:

“We welcome this initiative as a first step, but the Commission must go deeper. A broader analysis of sectoral and environmental policies is essential to identify and eliminate unnecessary administrative burdens. Reducing red tape, where necessary, will improve competitiveness and ensure a more practical and sustainable regulatory framework for the European fishing industry.”

Europêche is urging the Commission to apply the same principles of regulatory simplification to fisheries as it has done for agriculture and industry. The organisation argues that without a cohesive and proportionate regulatory framework, European fisheries risk losing competitiveness, ultimately threatening the EU’s seafood security and coastal economies.

Next Steps for Regulatory Reform

While the Omnibus Simplification Package represents progress, Europêche maintains that more must be done to ensure that fisheries regulations remain efficient, effective, and sustainable. The industry will continue to push for further regulatory reviews and a stronger voice in policymaking.

For more details, Europêche’s full position paper on reducing regulatory burdens in the EU fishing sector is available here.