Contents 1 The Fund 2 EU action taken 3 The evaluation 3.1 Relevance 3.2 Efficiency 3.3 Effectiveness 3.4 EU added value 3.5 Coherence 4 Lessons learned 1The Fund The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) aims to ensure that fishing and aquaculture activities is environmentally sustainable over the long-term and managed in a way that is consistent with the objectives of achieving economic, social and employment benefits, and of contributing to the availability of food supplies. The Integrated Maritime Policy is based on the recognition that all matters relating to oceans and seas are interlinked, and that sea-related policies must develop in a joined-up way if they are to achieve the desired results. The European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) supports both these policies. National authorities implement 90% of the Fund. Just over 10% (a total of €647,275,400 over the seven-year funding period 2014-2020) has been earmarked for measures that are implemented directly by the European Commission, including the Executive Agency for Small and Medium Enterprises. The split between maritime policy and fisheries is roughly 50:50, with slightly more on fisheries in the first three years of the programme and slightly more on maritime policy afterwards. Between 200 and 300 contracts under this direct management part of the programme are signed each year. This evaluation covers those contracts programmed between 2014-2018. 2EU action taken The long-term future of fisheries relies on protecting the stocks from over-exploitation through measures imposing how the fish can be caught, how many can be caught, by whom they can be caught and how they are marketed. Given the complex and connected way that ecosystems and markets work, framing the rules requires considerable data, sound science and expert advice. Monitoring and enforcing the rules requires timely information built up from multiple sources in national administrations and from the supply chain. This is not only for European waters. Vessels from EU countries fish in nearly all oceans and the EU is committed to international ocean governance. The direct management component of EMFF finances measures and structures to deliver the data, advice, organisational structures, information systems and intelligence needed to implement the EU’s fisheries policy effectively. Maritime policy is constructed on the understanding that the viability of the blue economy and the health of the marine environment require coherence between different policy areas and different countries, including those without a coastline and those not in the EU; particularly neighbours sharing the same sea basin. The direct management component of the EMFF supports measures to bring these stakeholders together, to unify and disseminate their holdings of marine data, to agree on common ways of measuring the status of the marine environment, to improve communication between authorities responsible for preventing illegal or dangerous activities at sea, to take into account neighbours when planning what is allowed and what is forbidden in their waters and to stimulate the blue economy. 3The evaluation The conclusions presented here are drawn from several sources:

-an external study into measures taken from 2014 to 2016, (largely through interviews conducted with those involved in the measures), -a public consultation in 2018, which elicited 200 replies from a sample of public authorities, businesses, civil society and researchers, -separate analyses of specific measures, and -insights from Commission departments and the Executive Agency for Small and Medium Enterprises. 3.1Relevance The study found almost universal agreement from stakeholders that action under the EMFF did contribute to meeting the objectives of both maritime and fisheries policies. EMFF action aided maritime policy through a more integrated governance, joined-up data, spatial plans that take into account neighbours’ needs, communication between maritime authorities with different responsibilities, business support for emerging industries and sound criteria for assessing the state of the marine environment. Fisheries policy was supported through scientific advice, improved enforcement, structured stakeholder involvement, enhanced ocean governance and market intelligence. 3.2Efficiency Nearly all the budget was consumed as planned with the exception of a contribution to joint chartering of patrol vessels. Member States did not take up this option due to uncertainty as to how to combine it with national resources. Respondents to the survey considered that the measures could not have been carried out at a lower cost. Time-critical deliverables, especially scientific advice, reached the recipients on schedule. Nevertheless, beneficiaries of grants and contracts did report that some of the procedures were administratively heavy. The time to grant or contract signature are similar to those in other Commission programmes and the use of e-grants as of 2017 did reduce the paperwork. But there is considerable scope for improvement. Further simplification, a more risk-based approach to compliance and a better alignment with other programmes could considerably reduce the workload for beneficiaries and the contracting authority alike and speed up the process without compromising sound budgetary management. 3.3Effectiveness There is consensus that all actions were effective in building a stronger maritime economy, improving the protection of marine resources or in developing a more joined-up approach to maritime policies. -The many events organised, whether at European or sea-basin level, encouraged interactions that enabled participants to see how others in different industries, different countries or different government departments tackle similar challenges. -Business and public authorities are already using the digital maps developed under the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) initiatives to improve productivity and reduce risk. For instance, they have greatly reduced uncertainty in storm surge forecasts in the North Sea. A separate evaluation of EMODnet is underway. -Practitioners of spatial planning reported that participating in cross-border planning projects had improved their awareness of what is being done in other countries and how it might affect their own waters in a way that could not have been achieved by browsing plans online. -The scope for more effective awareness of what is happening in European waters through better communication between authorities responsible for monitoring different activities such as navigational safety, fisheries inspection, border control or customs checks has been amply demonstrated in pilot projects for the Common Information Sharing Environment (CISE). This is now moving to an operational phase under the auspices of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), which already works closely with the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) and the European Borders and Coastguard Agency (FRONTEX). -Studies and targeted fora have shown the promise of emerging technologies in areas such as ocean energy, algae processing, electric propulsion or waste recycling to transform the blue economy and at the same time contribute to EU goals on greenhouse gas emissions or the circular economy. Having a full pipeline of projects was instrumental in attracting guarantees from the European Fund for Structural Investment for an equity fund for the blue economy. -The provision of scientific advice, financed under the EMFF, is fundamental for all proposals and decisions on major fisheries management tools, such as total allowable catch, quotas, gear restrictions and landing obligations. The advice provided over the period of the evaluation was delivered on time and formed the main basis for Commission proposals for fisheries management. Well-established arrangements for the delivery of scientific advice, and the collection of the data on which it is based, ensure that advice and data are effective and relevant in informing CFP objectives. There is scope for clarifying the division of roles between the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries and the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean, on scientific advice in the Mediterranean. -After the plan for purchasing joint patrol vessels was scrapped, most of the budget allocated for fisheries control was spent on information technology to enable data exchange within the EU (from national authorities to each other, the Commission, the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA), to third countries under bilateral arrangements or with regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs). Progress has been slower than planned, partially due to sub-optimal implementation, the inherent complexity of the programme and the multitude of stakeholders. The development is due to be completed in 2020, when MARE will carry out a thorough review and investigate the best way to move forward. -Subscriptions from members of regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs) are, in many cases, not sufficient for them to implement the rules they set. Top-up grants from the EMFF strengthened their organisational capacity and paid for underpinning research. These regional management organisations are crucial partners and helping them do their job has had significant benefits for the EU’s ocean governance strategy.