By the end of July the European Commission intends to adopt a regulation on de minimis aid in the fisheries sector. While allegedly intended to cut down on unnecessary bureaucracy, the proposed regulation would allow EU fishing enterprises to receive significant and potentially harmful subsidies.
Under the new regulation, a fishing enterprise could receive up to € 30.000 of state aid every three years. Importantly, this aid could be used to finance fuel costs of fishing vessels. The organisations WWF, the Fisheries Secretariat, BirdLife International, Oceana, North Sea Foundation and Seas at Risk urge the Commission not to open a back door to fuel subsidies, but to explicitly exclude the use of aid to help cover operational costs.