Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the UK providing and maintaining funding allocated by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund at the same level after the UK leaves the EU.
When we leave the EU, we will take back control of our fisheries for the first time in 40 years. This presents us with an opportunity to design a robust, science-based and sustainable fisheries policy for the future.
Current European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) commitments stand at £111.8million across 1,219 projects, with spend of £30.3million certified for 706 projects. In the upcoming months, we will evaluate the EMFF programme, and this will help to shape the discussions around the future funding needs of the industry.