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The reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), which came into force on 1 January 2014, introduced a legally binding obligation to eliminate overfishing by 2020 and placed a strong emphasis on moving towards more long-term management of fish stocks. The use of such multiannual management plans should help ensure stocks are more stable and productive, and give greater certainty to industry. However, the first multiannual plan proposed under the new CFP, for fisheries in the Baltic Sea, breaches the legal obligation to eliminate overfishing and recover stocks to healthy levels. This short legal briefing explains how the European Commission’s proposal and the Council of Ministers position don’t meet the CFP requirements, and what can be done to bring the plan into line with the CFP