Report | April 9, 2026
Joint letter to keep the EU on track to meet its sustainable fisheries management objectives
Dear President Von der Leyen,
On behalf of Europe’s leading environmental organisations BirdLife, BLOOM, ClientEarth, Environmental Justice Foundation, Oceana, Pew, Seas At Risk, The Nature Conservancy and WWF, we are writing to express our serious concern about the growing push to use the EU’s simplification agenda to reopen core fisheries legislation through a so-called “Fisheries Omnibus” package. Such an initiative could risk reopening key elements of EU fisheries law, including the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), the Fisheries Control Regulation, and the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF). It would create legal uncertainty for the fishing sector at a time when stability and predictability are essential for competitiveness, investment and long-term profitability, while weakening environmental requirements across EU policies.
The debate on “simplification” appears to be drifting beyond the Commission’s original intention and risks feeding a broader narrative of blaming ‘Brussels’ for economic pressures that often stem from national implementation choices. It is therefore essential to distinguish genuine burden-reduction from attempts to weaken or remove essential safeguards. Reopening core EU legislation would undermine the Commission’s evidence-based processes and weaken the institutional balance that ensures coherent EU governance.

