The Agriculture & Fishing Ministers Council has formally adopted the Regulation on the European Fund for Fishing (EFF), which will come into force on 1 January 2007 in replacement of the existing EU financial programme for fishing, The new Fund has five fundamental priorities; “helping the fleet to adjust fishing capacity to available fish resources; supporting the various branches of the sector; providing aid to the organizations that represent the sector’s collective interest; fostering the sustainable development of areas dependent on fishing; and providing technical assistance to member states to facilitate the provision of aid”. The Regulation introduces the principle of the EFF national programme, so that the whole aid package will be devolved at the national level within the member states through a single instrument, with considerable advantages in terms of bureaucracy and transparency.
