The 2016-2020 Protocol implementing the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA) between the EU and Cook Islands (CK) considers access of a maximum of 4 EU purse seiners in exchange for an annual EU financial compensation of EUR 385 000 the first two years and EUR 350 000 the last two years, plus an annual maximum amount of EUR 350 000 for the support and implementation of the CK's sectoral policy. The Protocol also foresees payment of access fees by EU operators benefiting from fishing opportunities. The Protocol will expire next 13 October 2020.

The 2015-2020 Protocol implementing the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA) between the EU and Liberia considers access to the Liberian EEZ for a maximum of 28 tuna purse seiners and 6 surface longliners in exchange for an annual EU financial compensation of EUR 357 000 for the first year, EUR 325 000 for the second, third and fourth years and EUR 292 500 for the last year, plus an annual maximum amount for the support and implementation of the Liberia's fisheries sectoral policy equal to the EU annual compensation. The Protocol also foresees payment of access fees by EU operators benefiting from fishing opportunities. The Protocol will expire on 8 December 2020.

This report provides an ex post and an ex ante evaluation of the Fisheries Partnership Agreement (FPA) between the European Union (EU) and Greenland1. The initial FPA ran until 31 December 2012 and is tacitly renewed for six-year periods. The current Protocol to the EU/Greenland FPA runs from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2020. The Greenland-EU FPA/Protocol is a 'mixed agreement', which permits EU vessels to fish in Greenlandic waters for cod, pelagic and demersal redfish, Greenland halibut, shrimp, grenadier and capelin. Small amounts of bycatch (grenadier and other species) are permitted. The agreement is unique amongst the EU's fisheries agreements in that it is the only one in northern waters for which financial compensation is paid for access (other northern agreements being based on transfers/exchanges of quota), and the only agreement based on financial compensation with a relatively developed country (with implications for its ability and capacity to manage resources effectively and its sectoral support needs). Indicative annual fishing opportunities total 42 726 tonnes, with Greenland offering and the EU accepting a part of total Greenlandic quotas for individual species each year based on scientific advice and the needs of both the EU and Greenlandic private sectors. The EU also transfers part of the agreed quota to Norway and the Faroe Islands, in exchange for access by EU vessels to the waters of those third countries. The Protocol provides annually for EUR 13 168 978 from the EU budget as financial compensation for access (calculated based on reference prices for each species) including a financial reserve of EUR 1 700 000 for additional quantities of species, with actual financial compensation for access being based on the quota agreed for the EU. In addition, EU ship-owners pay authorisation fees based on prices set in the Protocol for the quota allocated. EUR 2 931 000 are also provided from the EU budget to support Greenlandic sectoral fisheries policy. The methodology for this evaluation included a review of literature and data, and consultations (some face to face, and some remotely) with stakeholders in Greenland and in the EU. The scope of the ex post evaluation covers the FPA and the Protocol, performance over the first full three calendar years (2016 to 2018), and assessment against standard evaluation criteria. The scope of the ex ante evaluation includes the needs of both parties, defining objectives, learning lessons from the past, and an assessment of future options. Planning for the future and potential appropriations and allocation of human resources are also considered.

The subject of this evaluation is Fisheries Partnership Agreement (FPA) between the EU and the Seychelles and its implementing Protocol. The Agreement was concluded for a period of 6 years from 2 November 2007 and was automatically renewed in 2013 until 1 November 2019. The Protocol provides fishing possibilities for EU vessels fishing in the Seychelles' Exclusive Economic Zone for tuna and tuna-like species. The current Protocol entered into application on 18 January 2014 and will expire on 17 January 2020. The EU's FPA with Seychelles is one of two currently active tuna agreements in the Indian Ocean (the other is with Mauritius). The Protocol sets out the fishing opportunities and financial contributions provided for in the Fisheries Partnership Agreement. It grants fishing opportunities for 40 tuna purse seiners and 6 surface long liners, with a reference tonnage of 50,000 t/year. The annual EU public financial contribution to Seychelles in the first and second year amounted to EUR 5 350 000 per year, of which EUR 2 600 000 was dedicated to the support and implementation of Seychelles' sectoral fisheries policy. In the 3rd to 6th years, the annual contribution is EUR 5 000 000 per year, of which EUR 2 500 000 is to be dedicated to the support for implementation of the fisheries maritime policies. The EU-Seychelles FPA is mirrored by a fishing agreement between the Seychelles and the EU for access of a maximum of 8 purse seiners and 2 supply vessels flagged to Seychelles to the waters of Mayotte under EU jurisdiction (an EU outermost region since 2014). The so-called Seychelles-Mayotte agreement will expire on 5 June 2020.

The objective of this evaluation study is to provide DG MARE with an overall analysis of the SFPAs features, content, implementation, results and impacts. The results of the evaluation are expected to help the Commission to understand what has worked well, be considered of added value or a success story and, for what has not worked well, why and what could have been a suitable alternative option. More specifically, the terms of reference of the assignment required the evaluation to assess: • the fit for purpose and added value of the SFPAs based on the governance framework, the socio-economic and environmental benefits and impacts that they create in the EU and in third countries. In that context it evaluates the effectiveness of SFPAs, notably the extent to which the objectives of i) the Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 on the CFP, ii) the Communication on the external dimension of the CFP and the following 2012 Council conclusions, iii) the agreements and their implementing protocols, are met; - the extent to which the expected objectives and results fulfil the needs and expectations of EU in its different dimensions, including the EU fleet and the fisheries industry as well as local population, the partner countries, including on the distribution of the EU financial compensation between the access to the resource component and the sectoral support component; - the overall global, regional and type of agreement coherence of the current SFPAs network, in terms of policy orientations as well as in terms of concrete implementation and the overall coherence with other EU relevant policies , including the impact of SFPAs on EU Outermost Regions neighbouring SFPAs countries, and with the policies and intervention of other international organisations involved in fisheries; - the contribution of the SFPAs to development and reinforcement of the technical and scientific capacity of partner countries and their impact on the local fisheries sectors, on food security, trade relations with the EU; assess the SFPAs' contribution towards combating IUU fishing in third countries; - the sectoral support component including the programming process, the main types of activities carried out, their results, impacts, and effectiveness within the sector and in related policy areas, - the perception in terms of appreciation of SFPAs and their actions; - the relevance of SFPAs and their sectoral support with respect to the EU needs and objectives.

This is the final report of the study "Ex-post evaluation of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union and CARIFORUM." The evaluation covers the 10-year period since the EPA has been provisionally applied, namely 2008-2018. With the creation of the Caribbean Community in 1973 the countries of the Caribbean embarked on a process of regional integration. Regional integration, cooperation and engagement were and are the best response to the host of challenges faced by all Caribbean countries. Today these challenges range from the impact of COVID-19 on tourism industries, over regional fragmentation and import dependence, to climate change threatening marine eco-systems or increasing the intensity of hurricanes. The countries do not face these challenges alone, but together with their key partners, the European Union and the US, but also new and emerging partners such as an increasingly active China. Tied together by more than 500 years of shared but also difficult history, as of 2008 the partnership between the Caribbean and Europe is also highlighted by the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union and CARIFORUM. It is a first of its kind agreement, comprehensively covering a wide range of areas beyond the traditional purview of trade agreements. The EPA came out of the realization that traditional trade liberalization alone will not yield strong development impacts, and that a more comprehensive scope and depth is needed. Before the EPA was concluded, CARIFORUM countries received non-reciprocal market access to the EU under the EU-ACP agreements. This market access to the EU was on more favourable terms than for other developing countries, which is not in line with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and this situation could therefore not be sustained. Without a new trade agreement in place, the Caribbean countries would have traded with the EU under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) regime or Most Favoured Nation (MFN) regime, which would subject the region's most important exports (notably sugar, bananas and rum) to high EU duties. Therefore, the EU and CARIFORUM started the negotiations for a new reciprocal trade agreement in April 2004. In December 2007 the negotiations for the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) were concluded and the agreement provisionally entered into force on 29 December 2008. As the first comprehensive EPA at the time, it not only covers reciprocal liberalisation of trade in goods, but also trade in services, investment as well as many other aspects (e.g. customs, e-commerce, competition, sustainable development). The comprehensiveness was also based on the insight that many of the traditional as well as emerging industries of the Caribbean - tourism, services, creative industries, among others - do need tailored disciplines. In addition, development co-operation is an integral part of the agreement, seeing that with their often small size Caribbean countries need technical assistance to fully realize their export potential to the EU. The objective of the evaluation is to determine the extent to which the CARIFORUM-EU EPA has been implemented, where the bottlenecks lie and the extent to which the EPA has contributed effectively and efficiently to reach the objectives it set out. In addition, the evaluation examines the relevance of the EPA in relation to current trade and development issues, as well as its coherence with other EU policy instruments affecting the Caribbean. Based on this analysis, the evaluation aimed to capture important lessons learnt and offer recommendations to address some of the challenges and barriers. In terms of geographical scope, the evaluation covers the EPA both from the perspective of the EU and CARIFORUM with regard to its implementation, functioning and use, as well as the overall knowledge and awareness of it. The evaluation of economic, social and environmental impacts, along with the evaluation of development cooperation efforts, focusses on the CARIFORUM countries.