Regulation (EU) 2023/2842

What it is

PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council. BACKGROUND: an effective control system is essential to ensure that EU fisheries are managed in a sustainable manner, which in turn ensures the long-term viability of the EU fisheries sector and protects the livelihoods of EU fishermen. The measures establishing a Union Fisheries Control System (FCS) for ensuring compliance with rules of the CFP are provided for in four different legal acts: 1) the Fisheries Control Regulation ; 2) the Regulation establishing a European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA); 3) the Regulation establishing a system to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU Regulation); and 4) the Regulation on the sustainable management of the external fishing fleets (SMEF). The Committee on Fisheries adopted the report by Clara AGUILERA (S&D, ES) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, and amending Council Regulations (EC) No 768/2005, (EC) No 1967/2006, (EC) No 1005/2008, and Regulation (EU) No 2016/1139 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards fisheries control. As a reminder, the aim of the proposed regulation is to have a simple, transparent and effective fisheries control system that ensures effective, uniform and up-to-date compliance in the EU Member States, without leading to an increase in the administrative burden. The committee recommended that the European Parliament’s position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the proposal as follows: In order to promote greater clarity and harmonisation of the EU regulatory framework and thus improve its application, the committee proposed harmonising specific terms such as ‘direct sale’, ‘sensitive species’, ‘inspections’, ‘traceability’, etc. Members proposed that Member States should ensure that data from the automatic identification system is made available to their national fisheries control authorities for control purposes, including cross-checks of automatic identification system data with other available data. Masters of Union fishing vessels of less than 12 metres’ length overall, as well as natural persons engaging in fishing without vessels, should keep an electronic logbook in a simplified format. Members proposed equipping fishing vessels with CCTV technology on a voluntary basis provided that an incentive such as catch quota uplifts or freedom of choice of method in conducting a fishery is granted by the competent authority. Fishing vessels should be equipped with CCTV technology on a temporary and mandatory basis if they have committed two or more serious infringements. It is proposed that inspectors should receive the training necessary to perform the tasks assigned to them and shall be equipped with the tools necessary to conduct the inspections. In order to standardise controls across the EU, Member States should use a common form for inspection reports containing the same…

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