As protests by the fishermen erupted across coastal Europe in May over rising fuel costs, the European Commission said that subsidies for fuel are not the answer.

Fishermen have faced a 30% rise in the cost of marine diesel this year. In France, strikes by the fishing industry led the government to announce a € 110 million aid package last month, although Member States are only allowed to provide up to € 30,000 in aid over three years without seeking permission from the Commission.

The European Commission has said that short-term aid, such as reimbursable loans, could help fishing fleets restructure, but that fuel subsidies would only exacerbate the problem of overfishing.

"Fuel subsidies, besides being illegal, would do absolutely nothing to deal with the underlying problems," said the Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Joe Borg. "On the contrary, they would serve only to perpetuate the problems of the sector and make the crash even greater when it comes. Act now to restructure, but false solutions are not the way forward."

In addition, the Commission has called for greater flexibility when setting annual limits on fishing efforts. This would be done in part by adapting the existing days-at-sea quota with a system that takes into account the engine power of fishing vessels.

The Commision's proposal must still be approved by a Majority of Member States before coming into effect.

According to the Commission, 88% of EU stocks are overfished, compared with the 25% global average. Measures that have been implemented in recent years to stem the problem have had little impact.