The European Union's common fisheries policy : historical challenges and future outlook

Abstract

My thesis aims to create an overview of the history of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) in the European Union (EU), pointing out important challenges with regards to accession of new member states, an oversized fishing fleet and lack of fish resources and the essence of the current reform, in addition to a short comparison with the Norwegian fisheries management. Finally the thesis concludes that the CFP has been able to introduce instruments in coherence with the ultimate objectives, at the same time as they fail to fulfill the objectives and to introduce the necessary elements of an ecosystem approach to fisheries management. Therefore it remains to see whether the proposition made by the Commission will be completed in the European Parliament and change the future outlook fot the European fisheries.