Evolution and perspectives of the Fisheries Structural Policy in the European Union

In 2011, the European Commission will make its legislative proposal for the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy public. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the direction the possible reforms to be implemented in the Fisheries Structural Policy will take. In order to do so, we will look at the recent results of the policy and its current situation, and study its trends. The main conclusion we can draw is that the future EU fisheries policy will not undergo major changes, neither in its fundamental principles nor with regard to its main goals or priority action axes. Eventual progress and any adjustments made to such reforms will take place within the ambit of the policy’s specific action measures via the European Fisheries Fund.

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► Most grants for fleet adjustment projects.
► Fishing overcapacity, the main problem of CFP.
► Current Fisheries Structural Policy is similar to the previous one.
► CFP reform 2012: stable in principles and objectives.
► CFP reform 2012: changes only in specific measures.