Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

Reliable, comprehensive, and timely European statistics are essential for designing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating Union policies and legislation related to fisheries and aquaculture, particularly under the scope of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). High-quality statistics underpin evidence-based policymaking and enable the Union to assess the economic, social, and environmental impacts of fisheries and aquaculture activities, including their effects on business development, employment, food security, public health, water quality, biodiversity, sensitive species and habitats, climate change, and the proper functioning of markets.

There is a growing need for more detailed and timely European statistics to support implementing EU policies, legislation, as well as various Commission initiatives, including the action plans for organic production, sustainable aquaculture, a sustainable blue economy, algae sector development, energy transition in fisheries and aquaculture, and the protection and restoration of marine ecosystems.

European fisheries and aquaculture statistics are currently collected based on five legal acts that do not provide full consistency across statistical domains. A common legal framework is needed to ensure consistency, streamline statistical processes, and enable a more holistic approach. Parliament's resolutions also highlighted the importance of European statistics on fisheries and aquaculture.

The proposed amendments to the regulation on European fisheries and aquaculture statistics strengthen the establishment of an integrated and reliable framework, with a clear focus on reducing administrative burden, protecting workers, and enhancing transparency in decision-making. The core objective is the collection of high-quality data without duplication, through the mandatory use of existing administrative sources and alignment with international standards such as those of the FAO and the OECD. At the same time, a strict principle of necessity and proportionality is introduced for any new data requirements, to avoid excessive workload, particularly for small operators and for remote or outermost regions, which are explicitly recognized as needing targeted technical and logistical support. Finally, the amendments establish meaningful stakeholder involvement prior to the adoption of delegated acts, reinforcing democratic legitimacy and building trust within the sector in the statistical system.

They expand the strategic reference framework by linking the new Regulation not only to the European Green Deal but also to the European Ocean Pact, and by stressing the need for systematic and harmonised collection of socioeconomic data to support robust, evidencebased policymaking.

Including social and economic structure elements in socioeconomic statistics is essential to provide a comprehensive understanding of the fisheries and aquaculture sectors. Social structure data such as age, gender, and level of education of fishers and aquaculture workers support assessments of workforce composition, skills, equity, and generational sustainability. Economic structure data covering fuel or energy consumption, salary costs, and maintenance expenditures for catching fleets and aquaculture establishments enable robust analysis of production costs, efficiency, profitability, and environmental pressures. Together, these elements strengthen evidence-based policy design, sector planning, and the monitoring of social and economic sustainability.

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From an operational perspective, the amendments further strengthen the objective of administrative simplification. Member States are encouraged, and in certain cases required, to reuse control, fleet, and other administrative data already collected under the CFP, while retaining flexibility to transmit aggregated datasets within shorter deadlines where appropriate. Clearer exemption thresholds are introduced, and digital solutions including remote electronic monitoring tools are promoted, provided that data quality, confidentiality, and workers’ rights are fully respected. Any corrections requested by Member States must be handled transparently and within well-defined procedures.

Overall, the revised framework seeks to deliver high-quality, comparable, and timely European fisheries and aquaculture statistics that support sustainable environmental management, economic development, and social well-being, while minimising administrative burden and ensuring fairness across regions and actors within the sector