Commission Regulation (EU) No 1013/2010 of 10 November 2010 laying down implementing rules on the Union Fleet Policy as defined in Chapter III of Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002

• Published date: 11 November 2010
• Subject Matter: Fisheries policy
• Official Gazette Publication: Official Journal of the European Union, L 293, 11 November 2010

11.11.2010 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 293/1

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COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 1013/2010

of 10 November 2010

laying down implementing rules on the Union Fleet Policy as defined in Chapter III of Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002

(codification)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 of 20 December 2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the common fisheries policy (1), and in particular Article 11(7), the first subparagraph of Article 12(1), Article 12(2), Article 13(2) and Article 14(2) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Commission Regulation (EC) No 1438/2003 of 12 August 2003 laying down implementing rules on the Community Fleet Policy as defined in Chapter III of Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 (2) has been substantially amended several times (3). In the interests of clarity and rationality the said Regulation should be codified.

(2) The adjustment in fishing capacity of the Union fishing fleet should be monitored closely to bring it into line with the available resources. To that end, Chapter III of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 sets out a number of specific measures.

(3) Rules should be laid down to ensure the correct implementation of Chapter III of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 by the Member States, taking into account all relevant parameters for the management of fleet capacity, in terms of tonnage (GT) and power (kW), provided for in that Regulation and also in Council Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 of 17 December 1999 laying down the detailed rules and arrangements regarding Community structural assistance in the fisheries sector (4). This Regulation should take account of the Accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia on 1 May 2004 and of Bulgaria and Romania on 1 January 2007.

(4) Reference levels for fishing capacity should be fixed at 1 January 2003 for the fleet of each Member State listed in Annex I, Part A, with the exception of their fleets registered in the outermost regions.

(5) Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 allows Member States to rebuild 4 % of the annual average tonnage scrapped with public aid between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2006 and 4 % of the tonnage scrapped with public aid as from 1 January 2007.

(6) Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 takes account of the requirement, as currently laid down in Article 25(3)(b) and (c) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006 of 27 July 2006 on a European Fisheries Fund (5), to reduce by at least 20 % the power of an engine that has been replaced with public aid, excluding engine replacements in the small-scale coastal fisheries as defined in that Regulation.

(7) It is necessary to establish rules for the adjustment of the reference levels to take account of Article 11(4), (5) and (6), and, for reasons of transparency, Article 13(1)(b)(ii) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 and of the remeasurement of the Union fishing fleet. After completion of the measurement of all fishing vessels, the adjustment rule should be maintained for a strict application of the entry-exit regime in terms of tonnage.

(8) Requests by the Member States listed in Annex I, Part A submitted to the Commission before 31 December 2002 to increase their objectives in the Fourth Multiannual Guidance Programme (MAGP IV), as was provided for in Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999, and Article 3 and Article 4(2) of Council Decision 97/413/EC (6), are to be taken into account where appropriate for the determination of reference levels.

(9) It is necessary to establish a calculation method in order to assess whether Member States manage entries into and exits from their fleet of fishing vessels in compliance with Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002.

(10) The exemption from the entry-exit regime for the vessels that joined the fleet as from 1 January 2003 or, for the Member States listed in Annex I, Part B, as from the accession date, should take into account an administrative decision adopted respectively before 1 January 2003 or before the accession date. For the calculation of the overall fishing capacity of the fleet at 1 January 2003 special treatment should be given to entries into the fleet of vessels for which such administrative decisions were taken, provided that those vessels entered the fleet not later than 5 years after the date of the administrative decision by the concerned Member State.

(11) Implementing rules are needed for decisions by Member States on the eligibility of modernisation works to improve safety, working conditions, product quality and hygiene on board vessels as referred to in Article 11(5) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002, in order to ensure a transparent assessment and an equal treatment of the requests, while preventing any increase in fishing effort as a result of such works.

(12) Increases in enclosed volume over the main deck do not affect the tonnage of vessels under 15 m in length overall, in accordance with Council Regulation (EEC) No 2930/86 of 22 September 1986 defining characteristics for fishing vessels (7). Therefore, the modernisation of these vessels above the main deck is not taken into account when adapting the reference levels according to Article 11(5) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002.

(13) Member States should be allowed to grant a limited increase in tonnage to new or existing vessels in order to improve safety, hygiene, working conditions and product quality on board, provided it does not increase the ability of the vessels to catch fish and gives priority to small-scale coastal fisheries within the meaning of Article 26 of Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006. That increase should be linked to their efforts to adjust fishing capacity with public aid between 1 January 2003 or 1 May 2004 and 31 December 2006 and from 1 January 2007 onwards.

(14) It is necessary to lay down implementing rules to ensure that clear rules and procedures are set for the way Member States transmit data to the Union fishing fleet register and new validation rules are needed to guarantee the quality and the reliability of such data.

(15) The annual reports and the summary thereof made by the Commission in accordance with Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 should give a clear picture of the equilibrium between fleet fishing capacity and fishing opportunities.

(16) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for Fisheries and Aquaculture,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

CHAPTER I

SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS

Article 1

Scope

This Regulation lays down the implementing rules for Chapter III of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002. It shall apply to the fishing capacity of Union fishing vessels with the exception of vessels which are:

(a) exclusively used in aquaculture as defined in Article 3(d) of Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006; or

(b) registered in the outermost regions of France, Portugal and Spain as indicated in point 1 of Article 355 of the Treaty.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purpose of this Regulation the following definitions shall apply:

(1) ‘GTa1’ or ‘the total tonnage of vessels that left the fleet with public aid between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2006’ means the total tonnage of vessels that left the fleet with public aid between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2006. In the formula concerning the reference level in tonnage in Article 4 this value is only taken into account for the amount of capacity that went beyond the tonnage reduction necessary to comply with the reference levels under Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002. For the Member States listed in Annex I, Part B, ‘GTa1’ or ‘the total tonnage of vessels that left the fleet with public aid between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2006’ means the total tonnage of vessels that left the fleet with public aid between the accession date and 31 December 2006;

(2) ‘GTS’ or ‘the total tonnage increases granted under the provisions of Article 11(5) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002’ means the total tonnage increases granted under Article 11(5) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 and registered before the date for which GTt is calculated;

(3) ‘GTa2’ or ‘the total tonnage of vessels leaving the fleet with public aid after 31 December 2006’ means the total tonnage of vessels that left the fleet with public aid between 1 January 2007 and the date for which GTt is calculated. In the formula concerning the reference level in tonnage in Article 4 this value is only taken into account for the amount of capacity that went beyond the tonnage reduction necessary to comply with the reference levels under Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002;

(4) ‘GT100’ or ‘the total tonnage of vessels of more than 100 GT entering the fleet with public aid granted after 31 December 2002’ means the total tonnage of vessels of more than 100 GT that entered into the fleet between 1 January 2003 and the date for which GTt is calculated, and for which an administrative decision by the Member State concerned to grant aid was taken after 31 December 2002. For the Member States listed in Annex I, Part B ‘GT100’ or ‘the total tonnage of vessels of more than 100 GT entering the fleet with public aid granted after 31 December 2002’ means the total tonnage of vessels of more than 100 GT that entered into the fleet between 1 May 2004 and the date for which GTt is calculated, and for which an administrative decision by the Member State concerned to grant

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