A row has broken out over voting by Irish MEPs on next year's EU fisheries budget under the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF).
The European Parliament voted last week on the 2027 EU budget, the final annual budget of the current long-term budget period.
In September, the European Commission proposed a targeted amendment of the EMFAF Regulation to simplify and facilitate access to funding for fishers and aquaculture producers.
The proposed changes would provide greater legal certainty and facilitate testing of new technologies, accelerate the energy transition of the EU fleet, and support generational renewal through increased aid intensity for young fishers and the removal of barriers to support the transfer of business ownership.
Sinn Féin claimed that, in this month's vote, only three Irish MEPs, all from the Left, supported an amendment to increase fisheries funding.
One of the three, Sinn Féin MEP for Ireland South Kathleen Funchion, said she was disappointed that the amendment did not succeed and criticised the stance taken by other Irish MEPs.
“Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and Independent Ireland all voted against the amendment which would have increased the fisheries budget line by €300 million, restoring cuts made since 2024,” she claimed.
“There are a multitude of problems facing Irish fishing primarily coming from access to quotas and to unfair competition from third countries,” she said.
“Whilst we continue to try to change that, the least the [European] Parliament can do is increase funding opportunities in what could be the final year of the EMFAF fund as we know it,” she said.
However, Fine Gael MEP for Ireland South Seán Kelly said Sinn Féin's stance had the potential to put a final deal at risk.
“An agreement was reached among a strong majority of political groups in Parliament in advance of the vote on the 2027 EU Budget,” he said.
“To preserve and support this agreement, MEPs from the political groups that had worked hard to negotiate and deliver it opposed all amendments tabled by MEPs from minority political groups who had not signed up to the deal reached,” Kelly explained.
“The agreement includes €804 million in funding for the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund, an increase of almost €10 million compared with the 2026 allocation. Supporting amendments last week would have put the deal at risk,” he said.
“In the final vote, Parliament adopted its budget position and will now take this into negotiations with the Council. Sinn Féin MEPs voted against it,” Kelly said.
Several other Irish MEPs who were asked for comment did not respond at the time of going to press.
The Parliament's position is not yet the final EU budget. Negotiations with the Council are scheduled to continue in November, with the conciliation period running until 16 November, according to the European Parliament Research Service.
