AUTHORS: IEEP

Control and enforcement was identified as an area that needed addressing in the Commission Common Fisheries Policy reform Roadmap (COM(2002)181). The new CFP basic Regulation 2371/2002 that followed provided an improved framework for control and enforcement of the CFP. Building on these developments, the Commission produced a Communication on the implementation of uniform and effective implementation of the CFP in March 2003 (COM(2003)130). The Communication is composed of two parts:

• an Action Plan that sets out areas for improved cooperation between Member Sates, with a focus on priority stocks; and
• the preliminary details of a joint inspection structure, which the Commission intends to formally propose at a future date.

Together, these two elements are intended to improve control and enforcement by coordinating and pooling Member States’ resources.