of the EU, with 25 million km² it is the largest in the world ]]
The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the fisheries policy of the European Union. It sets quotas for which member states are allowed to catch what amounts of each type of fish, as well as encouraging the fishing industry by various market interventions. In 2004 it had a budget of €931 million, approximately 0.75% of the EU budget.
The Policy has been criticised both by scientists concerned with dwindling fish stocks, and by fishermen, who say it is threatening their livelihoods.
If ratified, the proposed European Constitution will formally enshrine fisheries policy as one of the handful of 'exclusive competences' reserved for the European Union. This would formally place fisheries policy outside the jurisdiction of individual nation states, although decisions would still be made primarily by the council of ministers, as is the case now.
The common fisheries policy was created to manage fish stocks for the European Union as a whole. Article 38 of the 1957 Treaty of Rome which created the European Communities (now European Union) stated that there should be a common policy for fisheries.
