COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE EVALUATION of the 2019-2024 Protocol to the Agreement on a Sustainable Fisheries Partnership between the European Union and the Republic of Senegal
Date: 2026-01-14
Institutions: Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, European Commission
Subjects: Senegal, agreement (EU), fishing agreement, fishing area, fishing rights, protocol to an agreement, sea fishing, sustainable fisheries

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 13.1.2026  SWD(2026) 6 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE EVALUATION  of the 2019-2024 Protocol to the Agreement on a Sustainable Fisheries Partnership between the European Union and the Republic of Senegal        {SWD(2026) 5 final}  
 
 
Under the external dimension of the EU’s common fisheries policy (CFP)1, the Commission is 
responsible for the negotiation of implementing protocols to sustainable fisheries partnership 
agreements (SFPAs) with non-EU countries, and for the implementation of those protocols.  

SFPAs create a legal, environmental, economic and social governance framework for fishing 
activities carried out by EU fishing vessels in non-EU waters. In return, the EU pays financial 
compensation  to  the  partner  country  for  access  to  its  waters  and  provides  it  with  financial 
support for the implementation of a national strategy on fisheries and the blue economy. The 
EU contribution is supplemented by fees payable by EU vessel owners. 

Before  submitting  a  recommendation  to  the  Council  asking  it  to  authorise  the  opening  of 
negotiations  for  a  successor  protocol  to  a  sustainable  fisheries  partnership  agreement,  the 
Commission  arranges  for  independent  ex  ante  and  ex  post  evaluations  of  each  protocol,  in 
accordance with Article 31(10) of the CFP Basic Regulation1.  

This staff working document (SWD) contains an ex post evaluation of the application of the 
most recent implementing protocol (‘the implementing protocol’) to the sustainable fisheries 
partnership  agreement  between  the  European  Union  and  the  Republic  of  Senegal  (‘the 
Agreement’). These evaluations are based mainly on an independent evaluation carried out by 
an  external  consultant2.  The  external  consultant  undertook  extensive  consultations  with 
stakeholders in the EU and in Senegal. During the evaluation process, the consultant engaged 
in  discussions  with  the  European  and  Senegalese  authorities  to  gather  their  views  on  the 
implementation of the 2019-2024 protocol. 

The ex post  evaluation  covers the period up to  March 2024, which is most of the period of 
application of the 2019-2024 implementing protocol. It provides an overall assessment of the 
implementing  protocol,  drawing  conclusions  on  its  effectiveness,  efficiency,  relevance, 
coherence and acceptance and on the EU added value of the intervention. The detailed issues 
raised by these evaluation criteria are  set  out  in  further detail in  Section 4 of the  evaluation 
report.  

The external contractor’s final report also presents an ex ante study evaluating the future of the 
sustainable fisheries partnership agreement between the EU and Senegal. However, in keeping 
with the EU’s zero tolerance policy on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and 
considering the Commission’s decision to pre-identify Senegal as a non-cooperating country in 
the  fight  against  IUU  fishing3,  the  Commission  does  not  intend  to  recommend  opening 
negotiations for a successor protocol. The Commission therefore does not, at this point, need to 
conduct and present its ex ante evaluation in this Commission staff working document. 

This evaluation covers only the implementation of the 2019-2024 protocol to the sustainable 
fisheries partnership agreement between the European Union and Senegal. It is independent of 
the aforementioned Commission decision to pre-identify Senegal as a non-cooperating country 
in the fight against IUU fishing and cannot pre-empt potential developments in connection with 
that decision in the context of the application of the IUU Regulation. 

1Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the Common 
Fisheries Policy (OJ L 354, 28.12.2013, p. 22). 
2 Évaluation rétrospective et prospective du protocole à l’accord de partenariat dans le domaine de la pêche durable entre 
l’Union Européenne et la République du Sénégal – Rapport final, Publications Office of the European Union, 2024, 
https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2771/806730.  
3 Commission Decision of 27 May 2024 as regards the notification to the Republic of Senegal of the possibility of being 
identified as a non-cooperating third country in fighting illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, C/2024/3319, OJ C, 
C/2024/3277, 29.5.2024. 

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