Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support his Department has provided to the fishing sector to help it plan for the UK leaving the EU.

The Fisheries White Paper, ‘Sustainable Fisheries for Future Generations’, charts the course for a sustainable and profitable fishing industry.

The introduction of the Fisheries Bill is an important step in regaining full control of our waters, setting fishing opportunities and managing fisheries sustainably.

Negotiations with the EU have confirmed the intention that the UK will continue to participate in all EU programmes financed by the Multiannual Financial Framework (2014-2020) until their closure.

In the event of no deal being reached, the Chancellor announced on 24 July 2018 that all EMFF projects approved before the closure date of the current programme (December 2020) will be fully funded under a Treasury guarantee. This guarantee applies across the UK.

Work to consider the longer-term future of all funding programmes that are currently managed by the EU is underway.

We have published a technical notice about how the commercial fishing industry would be affected if the UK leaves the EU without a deal in March 2019.