European Fisheries Control Agency

The European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) that co-ordinates the national operational activities in the area of fisheries, and assists the member states in their application of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The agency is based in Vigo (province of Pontevedra), Spain.

The Community Fisheries Control Agency (CFCA) was established pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 768/2005 of 26 April 2005 which entered into force on 10 June 2005. The Administrative Board was constituted at its first meeting held on 1 February 2006. Effective 1 January 2012, the agency was renamed as the European Fisheries Control Agency. Relevant legislation was codified with Regulation (EU) 2019/473.

The agency’s mission is to promote the highest common standards for control, inspection and surveillance under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). EFCA brokers operational cooperation between EU countries, and assists them and the Commission. It organises and coordinates cooperation between national control and inspection activities and trains national inspectors and trainers, to ensure that CFP rules are respected and applied effectively and consistently.

According to its founding regulation, the EFCA objective is ‘to organize operational coordination of fisheries control and inspection activities by the Member States and to assist them to cooperate so as to comply with the rules of the CFP in order to ensure its effective and uniform application’.

The added value of the work of the agency lies in its contribution to a European-wide level playing field for the fishing industry, and towards sustainable fisheries by enhancing compliance with existing conservation and management measures to the benefit of present and future generations.

The Agency, in cooperation with the European Border and Coast Guard Agency and the European Maritime Safety Agency, each within its mandate, supports the national authorities carrying out coast guard functions.

EFCA is governed by an administrative board, which consists of six representatives of the European Commission and one representative per member state. The agency is managed by an executive director.

The board sets the agency's priorities and work program, adopts its budget once it has been approved by the European Parliament and the Council, reports to the member states and the European institutions and appoints the executive director. In addition, the board adopts a multi-annual approach and a staff policy plan, and sets indicators to monitor the implementation of the work plan.