The European Commission’s upcoming Omnibus Simplification Package presented this week by President Von der Leyen has been welcomed by the European fishing sector, represented by Europêche, which sees this as a significant first step towards addressing longstanding concerns about regulatory complexity and administrative burdens.
The fishing sector has wasted no time in urging the Commission to take this further and conduct a comprehensive review of fisheries and environmental policies to improve competitiveness while maintaining sustainability goals.
‘We welcome this initiative as a first step, but the Commission must go deeper. A broader analysis of sectoral and environmental policies is essential to identify and eliminate unnecessary administrative burdens,’ said Europêche managing director Daniel Voces.
‘Reducing red tape, where necessary, will improve competitiveness and ensure a more practical and sustainable regulatory framework for the European fishing industry.’
The Omnibus Simplification Package aims to streamline existing EU sustainability regulations, including the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the EU Taxonomy Regulation and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). By consolidating these frameworks, the proposal seeks to eliminate redundancies, lower compliance costs, and provide much-needed clarity, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
This is part of the new Commission’s Competitiveness Compass which aims to reduce the administrative burden on firms by at least 25% and on SMEs by at least 35%. The sector emphasizes that simplification should go beyond reporting obligations. Additional regulatory challenges—such as compliance costs, fishing ground closures, taxation and bureaucratic inefficiencies—continue to threaten the fishing sector’s economic viability.
Since 2000, the EU fishing fleet has decreased by 28%, and full-time employment in the sector has dropped by 33%. Europêche urges a practical revision that balances environmental sustainability with food security, economic viability and reduced red tape. The Commission must also conduct a thorough review of all policies affecting fisheries, including the news ones such as the Control Regulation and the Nature Restoration Law, similar to the review of the Common Agricultural Policy adopted in 2023.
Europêche wants to see the Commission establish a structured consultation with fisheries stakeholders to pinpoint specific regulatory challenges and propose practical solutions.
‘A comprehensive strategy is essential to ensure that fisheries legislation is proportionate, coherent, and effective, enabling the sector to thrive while supporting the EU’s sustainability objectives,’ Europêche states.
