Legal bases of the EU
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Here you will find the most important legal bases for the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund 2021-2027.
EMFAF Regulation
On 12 June 2018, the European Commission presented its proposal for a regulation on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund post-2020.
The negotiations in the Council of the European Union were concluded in October 2019. In the course of the negotiations, the renaming of the fund to EMFAF - European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund - was agreed, among other things. Austria agreed to the agreement as a whole, but had criticised certain areas during the negotiations (such as the budget, see below).
The negotiations between the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission were conducted since November 2019. An agreement was reached in the political trialogue at the beginning of December 2020. After delays in finalising the legal text, the EMFAF Regulation was finally published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 7 July 2021 and entered into force on the following day.
Central objectives of the EMFAF are to foster sustainable fishing, to preserve biological resources and to support competitive European aquaculture. It also aims to strengthen the blue economy and the international maritime policy. In terms of content, Austria focuses primarily on aquaculture production and on the areas of processing and marketing (priority 2).
The agreement on the financial framework for 2021 - 2027 provides for an EMFAF budget of EUR 6.08 billion (at current prices) for the EU as a whole (see Annex V of the EMFAF Regulation). Austria's share amounts to around EUR 6.7 million in EMFAF funds (minus 3.5 % compared to 2014 - 2020, same reduction for all Member States). This corresponds to a share of around 0.1 % of the EU-27 total only.
Other legal bases of the EU
The regulation applicable to the EMFAF laying down common provisions for various EU funds 2021 - 2027 ("umbrella regulation") was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 24 June 2021 and entered into force on the following day.
Further implementing and delegated acts are available on the website of the European Commission (DG MARE).