Italy, Spain and France got their way on less fishing efforts

The 27 EU governments reached a late-night agreement on fishing opportunities in EU and non-EU waters for 2025. The deal was kept on the chopping block because of concerns from Spain, France, and Italy. On the same day, the EU Council started its work last Monday, in Spain, the Balearic fishermen began a two-day strike.

Spanish Minister Luis Planas called the proposal to reduce the fishing opportunity to 27 days per year “unacceptable” because the European Commission initiative was considered to be disregarding the efforts made by fishermen over the last five years. “We have reduced the number of working days by 40 percent,” Planas pointed out before joining the meeting.

The Brussels proposal would mean a 79% reduction in the number of days Spanish trawlers were active in the Mediterranean in 2025. The most burdensome agreement to reach was regarding fishing efforts in the Mediterranean.

The deal sets out fish catch limits, known as “total allowable catches” (TACs), and fishing effort limits for the most important commercial fish stocks. The fishing effort “refers to the size and engine power of a vessel combined with the number of days spent fishing.”

Ministers agreed to reduce fishing efforts for trawlers by 66% in Spanish and French waters and by 38% in French and Italian waters to protect demersal stocks while also considering the socioeconomic impact on the fleets. Ministers agreed to continue using the compensation mechanism established for the first time in 2022, allocating additional days to trawlers who opt for more selective gear or who are covered by a national conservation measure as an incentive to increase the protection of the stock.

The Council additionally agreed to reduce the maximum catch limits for blue and red shrimp in Spanish and French waters by 10% and by 6% in Italian and French waters. It also agreed to reduce the catch limits for giant red shrimp by 6% compared to 2024 in Italian and French waters.

For the Atlantic and North Sea, catch limits were increased for megrim (23%) and anglerfish (17%) in Iberian Atlantic waters, sole in the Bay of Biscay (1%), Norway lobster in the southern Bay of Biscay and the Cantabrian Sea (134%).

Cod in the Kattegat was reduced by 17%, red sea bream in Iberian waters by 62%, Norway lobster in the Bay of Biscay by 39%, and sole by 36%. Finally, in the Black Sea, the Council decided to increase the quota for turbots by 3.85% compared to 2024, which includes a carry-over of the unused EU turbot quota from 2023.

EU Agriculture Ministers also had an exchange on new rules proposed by the European Commission on animal welfare during transport. Many perplexities were raised over obligations on temperature and maximum transportation time limits. According to Italian Minister Francesco Lollobrigida, if approved, “these provisions would have selectively penalizing effects on certain geographical areas of Europe, as is the case with the proposals for night transport solutions, which have an unsustainable economic and social impact.”

The Council adopted a set of non-binding conclusions to provide insight into the upcoming legislative proposal on the post-2027 Common Agriculture Policy (CAP).

The conclusions call for more farmer-friendly rules and stress the need to cut red tape and simplify procedures. Farmers should have adequate incentives to that end, the text reads. Ministers underlined the need to ensure the right balance between economic, social, and environmental sustainability.

The Council called for more flexibility in using CAP instruments to improve how national and regional authorities deal with crises. There is a need for quicker and simpler procedures to support farmers in the case of extraordinary weather events, outbreaks of animal diseases, and the spread of plant pests.