Tampering with EU Fisheries Policy would ‘open Pandora’s Box’, NGOs warn

Press Release Date: March 30, 2026

Location: Brussels

Contact:

Vicky Baniokou | email: vbaniokou@oceana.org | tel.: +34 636065977

Brussels, 30 March 2026.- Today, Fisheries Ministers from EU Member States meet with the European Commission for the AGRIFISH Council. On this occasion, Oceana, BLOOM, ClientEarth, Coalition Clean Baltic (CCB), Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), Seas At Risk and WWF EU handed a symbolic ”Pandora’s Box” to the EU Commissioner Costas Kadis, sending a clear message as the European Commission prepares its 2026 evaluation of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). 

The box represents the risks of revising EU’s main fishery policy framework: once opened, competing demands from Member States, industry, small-scale fishers, and coastal communities could quickly spiral into division, regulatory delays and uncertainties. This would put at risk the hard-won progress made in restoring Europe’s fish populations and improving the profitability of the fishing sector.

NGOs urge decision makers to build on the progress made to date and to prioritise the full and timely implementation of the existing rules. Reopening the CFP and its related provisions would undermine ocean health and the long-term future of Europe’s fishing communities.   

”Europe’s fisheries policy is facing a credibility test. The law is already there. The tools to rebuild our seas already exist. What’s missing is the political will to deliver. Overfishing should have ended by 2020 at the latest. Reopening the CFP would signal that missed deadlines carry no consequences, erode trust, revert the progress made, and put the future of our fisheries and coastal communities at stake’’, said the NGO coalition.