Evaluation and impact assessment of the State aid framework in the fisheries and aquaculture sector EU

DG MARE Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (European Commission) - Project Dates:
June 2019 - December 2019

Description of Project:
Article 42 of Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) stipulates that the provisions of the Treaty relating to the rules on competition, which include those on State aid, apply to production of and trade in agricultural products (which include products of the fishery and aquaculture sector) to the extent determined by the European Parliament and the Council. The extent to which provisions of the Treaty on State aid apply to aid granted to the fishery and aquaculture sector has been determined in Article 8 of Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 of the European Parliament and the Council , which establishes the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).

Article 42 of Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) stipulates that the provisions of the Treaty relating to the rules on competition, which include those on State aid, apply to production of and trade in agricultural products (which include products of the fishery and aquaculture sector) to the extent determined by the European Parliament and the Council. The extent to which provisions of the Treaty on State aid apply to aid granted to the fishery and aquaculture sector has been determined in Article 8 of Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 of the European Parliament and the Counci, which establishes the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).

The purpose of the study is to evaluate to what degree the existing State aid rules have met their objectives and to assess the options for the future rules applicable as of 2021. This study has two distinctive parts:

A retrospective evaluation of the State aid rules applicable to the fisheries and aquaculture sector in terms of their relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, and EU added value, in line with the Commission’s evaluation standards set out in the Better Regulation Guidelines and the Better Regulation Toolbox . This includes identifying excessive administrative burdens, overlaps, gaps, inconsistencies and/or obsolete provisions. The findings will serve as a basis for the Commission to draw policy conclusions on how well the State aid framework has been performing and feed into the considerations on the future of the regulatory framework.
An impact assessment of the likely economic, social, and environmental impacts as well as the effectiveness, efficiency and coherence of different policy options for the future State aid framework.

Services Provided:

Poseidon contributed throughout the process, including both the retrospective evaluation of the State aid rules applicable to the fisheries and aquaculture sector as well as the mpact assessment of the likely economic, social, and environmental impacts as well as the effectiveness, efficiency and coherence of different policy options for the future State aid framework.