Evaluation and analysis of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPAs) between the EU and third countries including an in-depth analysis of the sectoral support component of the SFPAs Multiple countries

DG MARE Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (European Commission) - Project Dates:
December 2020 - December 2021

Description of Project:
Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements between the EU and third countries (SFPAs) consist of two elements: an agreement (general frame) and an implementing protocol (setting notably the financial contribution and the fishing possibilities), complemented by technical annexes. While the agreements are automatically renewed, the Protocols have to be renegotiated before they expire. The implementation of SFPAs is managed by a Joint Committee, which meets at least once per year, composed of representatives of both parties. SFPAs allow EU vessels to fish for surplus stocks in the partner country's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in a legally regulated environment. They focus on resource conservation and environmental sustainability, ensuring that all EU vessels are subject to the same rules of control and transparency. SFPAs ensure a level playing field and establish mechanisms for sustainable fishing operations. The protocols define, for example, the conditions in which the fishing activities take place, how they are monitored and regulated, and the fishing zones, fishing quotas and categories as well as the provisions setting the payment modalities. EU Council decisions define the fishing quota distribution between EU member states.

The objective of this evaluation study was to provide the European Commission's Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE) with an overall analysis of the SFPAs features, content, implementation, results and impacts. The results of the evaluation helped the Commission to understand what has worked well, be considered of added value or a success story and, for what has not worked well been, why and what could have been a suitable alternative option.

It took into consideration the legal and political context of the fisheries policy, related EU policies and level of coherence with other actions developed under the CFP (e.g., fight against IUU fishing, stocks sustainability). It analysed the contribution of the SFPAs implementation to the EU policies, their contribution to the sustainable development of the partner countries, and assessed their contribution to the overall cooperation between the EU and third countries.

The specific analysis of the sectoral support provided an overall understanding of the achievements and impacts of the sectoral support already implemented and their effectiveness of the actions supported. Among other tasks to analyse SFPAs based on the objectives above, the study included a public consultation and a targeted stakeholders consultation.

Services Provided:

The consortium F&S/Poseidon/MegaPesca, and DG MARE of the European Commission, are parties to a framework contract (MARE/2015/23) for Better Regulation related activities on the international dimension of the Common Fisheries Policy, signed on 16 February 2017.

Within this specific contract to the Framework contract above, Poseidon supported its consortium leader F&S and MegaPesca in:

carrying out the economic analysis of the SFPAs in terms of access rights,
coordinating the targeted stakeholders consultation and drafting the consultation report, and
reviewing the evaluation report.

The report of the study is available here on the EU Office of Publications.