European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund 2021-2027: The Commission adopts €38 million programme for Cyprus
The Commission has adopted the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) Programme for Cyprus, to implement the EU Common Fisheries Policy and EU policy priorities outlined in the European Green Deal, Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies. The EU contribution for the Cypriot Programme Fisheries 2021-2027 accounts for €38.8 million, and with national funding its total financial allocation reaches €54.7 million for the full programming period. The Fund will support the fishing and aquaculture sectors in Cyprus by facilitating the green and digital transition, improving resilience, and boosting innovation.
More concretely, the programme will support among others: investments to comply with the landing obligation; investments in fishing vessels to improve safety, health, hygiene, working conditions, energy efficiency and de-carbonisation; reducing over-capacity of certain fleet segments through scrapping; investments in aquaculture for the diversification of farmed aquaculture species; investments for the improvement of marine knowledge, fisheries control and data collection to implement the common fisheries policy (CFP); and the protection of biodiversity and marine protected areas.
Main expected outcomes for 2021-2027
The Cypriot EMFAF Programme will contribute to the EU policy priorities outlined in the European Green Deal, Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies, by moving towards more ambitious and innovative actions and committing to EU horizontal priorities.
The Cypriot EMFAF programme will enhance the resilience of the sector and will contribute to the de-carbonisation via the fisheries and aquaculture investments.
The Programme will support sustainable investments on fishing vessels, innovation and investments that contribute to the implementation of the landing obligation and to gear selectivity as well as improved infrastructure and marketing of unwanted catches, and support improved knowledge of marine environment.
Investments in aquaculture under the programme will contribute to the reduction of environmental impact of the sector, to the de-carbonisation, to the circular economy and to the diversification towards new products.
The Community-led local development (CLLD) interventions of the programme will enhance economic diversification in a local context (3 Local Action Groups – LAGs – are expected to be approved) through the development of coastal fisheries, aquaculture and a sustainable blue economy.
The programme assists the acceleration of the digital transformation, in particular as regards fisheries management and control through the development of control IT tools and the digitalisation of the fisheries control.
The programme will support the objectives of the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and the Cypriot Prioritised Action Framework through marine environment actions, such as the development of the management of marine protected areas, the monitoring of coastal habitats and species and the promotion of scientific knowledge for issues related to the Habitat and Birds Directives.
59% of the programme’s allocation will be dedicated to sustainable fisheries, 11% will be invested in sustainable aquaculture and in processing and marketing, 12% will be dedicated to sustainable blue economy in coastal, island and internal regions and 10% will be invested in the strengthening of international ocean governance, all contributing to the EU’s environmental and climate objectives.
Overall, the programme will strengthen the resilience of the fisheries, aquaculture and processing sectors by helping stakeholders to improve productivity and profitability at the same time as fulfilling their environmental and climate responsibilities.
Background
The EMFAF runs from 2021 to 2027 and supports the EU common fisheries policy (CFP), the EU maritime policy and the EU agenda for international ocean governance. The fund helps achieve sustainable fisheries and conserve marine biological resources.
Article 8 of the EMFAF Regulation (EU) 2021/1139 requires Member States to produce a national implementation programme for the EMFAF. This operational programme focuses on EU priorities, laying down the strategy and investment priorities, including the indicative annual financial allocation for each priority. The programme is subject to approval by the European Commission.
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