Economic Impact of Eliminating the Fuel Tax Exemption in the EU Fishing Fleet

• Published in: Sustainability
• Main Authors: Natacha Carvalho, Jordi Guillen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021
• Subjects: subsidy; small-scale fleet; European Green Deal; Energy Taxation Directive (ETD); World Trade Organization (WTO); Environmental effects of industries and plants; TD194-195; Renewable energy sources; TJ807-830; Environmental sciences; GE1-350; North East Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052719; https://doaj.org/article/7c6f178933ac458994a6af5e0436f410

The EU-27 fishing fleet consumed 2.02 billion liters of fuel to catch 4.48 million tons of fish, valued at €6.7 billion in 2018. The profitability of the EU fishing fleet shows an increasing trend, partly due to the improvements in the energy efficiency and recovery of fish stocks in the North-east Atlantic. Fuel is one of the main expenses fishing fleets have, and therefore, their economic performance remains highly dependent on the fuel price, even if they benefit from a fuel tax exemption. The adoption of the European Green Deal, the revision of the Energy Taxation Directive (ETD), the ongoing World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiation to prohibit harmful fisheries subsidies, and general public opinion are putting pressure to eliminate this tax exemption. This analysis investigates the impacts of the potential elimination of the fuel tax exemption across the different EU fishing fleets and it is discussed to what extent the small-scale, large-scale and distant-water fleets could be affected. This analysis is useful to inform policy-makers and stakeholders on the consequences of the potential elimination of the fuel tax exemption, as well as to discuss potential measures to mitigate the socioeconomic impacts arising from this eventual change in the current regulatory framework.