The European Union will disclose details of recipients of EU fisheries subsidies as part of a broader program to boost transparency.

Under new Commission regulations all Member States are required to list the names of the beneficiaries and the amount they received. A website run by the Commission will link to this information within the year, according to the Commission.

The EU Fisheries Fund (EFF) - the most significant source of EU aid to fishermen - is scheduled to provide € 3.8 billion between 2007 and 2013. While the EFF contains measures to protect marine environments and communities, it has come under criticism for providing some support that increases EU fishing capacity, thus adding pressure to over-exploited fish stocks. (See "The Problem with the European Fisheries Fund", by Markus Knigge, in the February 2008 issue of Subsidy Watch).

The European Commission has been under pressure for years to publicly disclose the beneficiaries of EU fisheries subsidies. A first step in that direction came last year, when the Commission released a list of fishing vessels that have received EU aid, following an access-to-information request by the World Wildlife Fund.

Notably, however, the new EU transparency regulations will not apply to subsidies provided by Member States themselves (i.e., support that is not part of the EU budget).

For more information on the European Commission's Transparency Initiative, including plans for disclosing fisheries subsidies, click here.