Welsh Marine Fisheries Scheme: service update

On 22 July, the European Parliament and Council adopted the crisis measures proposed by the Commission on 13 April and provided additional flexibility under EMFF to support the fisheries and aquaculture sectors whose activity has been seriously impacted by the Ukraine conflict.  

Welsh Government recognise beneficiaries may be experiencing delays and/or increased project costs because of market/trade disruption caused by this conflict. The latest euro: sterling exchange rate has increased available EU funds within the programme and therefore, in response to market/trade disruptions and escalating costs, Rural Payments Wales (RPW) can now consider re-evaluations of previously approved grant funding where project costs have increased as a result of the conflict.

To request an increase in grant funding please e-mail the EMFF Mailbox at emffcommunications@gov.wales  and request a project re-evaluation form.

Welsh Government also recognise that due to current market conditions and the longer-term impacts of Covid-19 pandemic, beneficiaries may also be experiencing delays in delivery and completion of projects.  In response to this, RPW will consider any requests for an extension to final claim deadline from 30 June 2023 to 30 September 2023.

Please note, all project expenditure must be incurred and evidenced by the claim deadline approved for your project.

To request a project extension please e-mail the EMFF Mailbox at emffcommunications@gov.wales and request a project re-evaluation form.

Projects must follow open and fair practices in the purchasing of any goods and/or services, in respect of all grant funded items.

Any perceived or actual conflicts of interest between you and the suppliers providing quotes, for example sourcing quotes from related companies, must be explained in the competitive tendering supporting documentation. Where conflicts potentially exist, mitigating action must be taken and documented. Failure to comply may result in financial penalties.

Full details of the processes and evidence required are contained in the  Welsh Government Competitive Tendering and Public Procurement Technical Guidance Notes.

The EMFF Operational Programme sets the Output and Result Indicators that supported projects are expected to report against.

The Result Indicators and their evidence requirements are described in the Scheme Guidance Notes for each measure and are designed to capture the benefits or effects which result from each project supported.

All beneficiaries in receipt of EMFF grant funding must provide evidence in support of the ‘Results Indicator’ targets which apply to their project, and RPW will contact project beneficiaries directly for the evidence required.

Our RPW Customer Contact Centre are on hand to help and assist with your project enquiries. The Customer Contact Centre is operating as follows:

Where possible, routine project enquiries should be submitted via your RPW online account which is available 24 hours a day.

Christmas period:

The Customer Contact Centre will not be accepting telephone calls between 26 December to 2 January 2023. However, you can continue to submit enquiries via your RPW online accounts during this period and we will respond as quickly as possible.

First published: 5 December 2022

Last updated: 5 December 2022