Joint NGO letter to Commissioners Vella and Malmström – Maintaining the EU ban on subsidies for the construction of new fishing vessels

n this letter to Commissioners Vella and Malmström, 40 environmental organisations raise their serious concerns about the European Commission’s plan to allow subsidies for the construction of new fishing vessels in the outermost regions by amending the State Aid Guidelines for the fishery and aquaculture sector.

Amending the current State Aid Guidelines to re-introduce these types of subsidies in the outermost regions undermines the objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy to end overfishing, goes against the objectives of the European Fisheries and Maritime Fund which bans subsidies for vessel construction, jeopardises the EU position in the ongoing negotiations over fisheries subsidies at the WTO, and sends the wrong political signal from the EU to political leaders around the world