The European Commission has launched a survey seeking input from commercial fishers and aquaculture professionals on how the administrative and reporting requirements they face on the job could be simplified.
“The survey, available in all E.U. languages, is for professionals across the fisheries and aquaculture value chain, including fishers, aquaculture producers, first buyers, processors, wholesalers, and retailers,” the commission said in its announcement. “It aims to identify unnecessary, duplicative, or overly burdensome requirements that could be simplified.”
The 15-minute survey is anonymous and asks those in the commercial fishing and aquaculture sectors to provide feedback on how government reporting and administrative requirements impact their workday. For example, the survey asks how costly and difficult those requirements are to fulfill, whether they need to input the same data multiple times, how much time they spend on administrative tasks, and whether they need external help to comply.
“The survey supports the European Commission’s efforts to reduce reporting burdens and simplify E.U. legislation as part of its competitiveness agenda,” the commission said.
The survey will remain open through 31 October.
The survey is part of a recent push from the European Commission to simply the bloc’s rules in support of “competitiveness and prosperity.” The government claims its simplification efforts have resulted in EUR 17 billion (USD 19 billion) savings across industries to date and will result in savings of EUR 37.5 billion (USD 42 billion) by 2029. The commission has set a goal of reducing reporting requirements across all businesses by 25 percent, or 35 percent for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
In a 2025 paper, commercial fishing industry group Europêche encouraged the commission to simplify reporting requirements while claiming that the sector needs broader regulatory relief, as well.
“In this context, Europêche welcomes the European Commission's commitment to reducing reporting requirements. However, reporting is only part of the issue; true regulatory relief must also address compliance costs, fishing ground closures, taxation, and bureaucratic inefficiencies,” the group said. “Europêche calls on E.U. policymakers to set up a comprehensive regulatory burden reduction strategy tailored to the fisheries sector, ensuring that the industry can thrive while maintaining sustainability goals.”
