COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 3237/94 of 21 December 1994 laying down detailed rules for the application of the arrangements for access to waters as defined in the Act of Accession of Norway, Austria, Finland and Sweden
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to the Act of Accession of Norway, Austria, Finland and Sweden, in particular Articles 92, 93, 95, 119, 120 and 123 thereof,
Whereas detailed rules should be fixed for the application of the arrangements for access to waters falling under the sovereignty or within the jurisdiction of the present Member States and for waters falling under the sovereignty or within the jurisdiction of Finland and Sweden, as provided for by the Act of Accession;
Whereas Articles 95 and 123 of the Act of Accession provide that vessels of the Community as at present constituted are to fish in the waters falling under the sovereignty or within the jurisdiction of Norway, Finland and Sweden under conditions identical to those applicable prior to the entry into force of the Act;
Whereas Articles 91 and 118 of the Act of Accession provide that Finnish and Swedish fishing vessels are to fish in waters falling under the sovereignty or within the jurisdiction of the Member States of the Union as at present constituted under conditions identical to those applicable prior to the entry into force of the Act;
Whereas Articles 93 and 120 of the Act of Accession provide that the conditions under which Finnish and Swedish fishing vessels shall carry out their fishing activities in the waters subject to the sovereignty or jurisdiction of Finland and Sweden are identical to those applicable immediately before the entry into force of this Act;
Whereas the Act of Accession provides that the arrangements for access defined in this Regulation shall apply during a transitional period ending on the date of implementation of the Community fishing permit system, which will not in any event be later than the date of expiry of the period laid down in Article 14 (2) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92 of 20 December 1992 establishing a Community system for fisheries and aquaculture (1);
Whereas, pursuant to Article 2 (3) of the Act of Accession, the institutions of the Union may, before accession, adopt in particular the measures referred to in the Act, to enter into force subject to and on the date of the entry into force of the accession;
Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Fisheries and Aquaculture,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Scope This Regulatin lays down detailed rules for the application of the arrangements for access as defined in the Act of Accession applicable to:
- the waters falling under the sovereignty or within the jurisdiction of Finland,
- the waters falling under the sovereignty or within the jurisdiction of Sweden,
- the waters falling under the sovereignty or within the jurisdiction of the Member States of the Community as at present constituted.
Article 2
Access by vessels of the Community to the waters referred to in Article 1 shall be authorized in accordance with the conditions laid down in this Regulation.
TITLE I DETAILED RULES CONCERNING ACCESS TO WATERS FALLING UNDER THE SOVEREIGNTY OR WITHIN THE JURISDICTION OF SWEDEN AND FINLAND, NOT INCLUDING ICES DIVSION III A (SKAGERRAK/KATTEGAT) AND III B (OERESUND) CHAPTER 1
Fishing conditions for vessels of the Community as at present constituted and Finnish vessels in waters falling under the sovereignty or within the jurisdiction of Sweden
Article 3
Fishing by vessels of the Community as at present constituted in the waters falling under the sovereignty or within the jurisdiction of Sweden within ICES division III d shall be subject to prior authorization issued by Sweden at the request of the Commission and to compliance with the conditions set out in such authorization and the provisions governing fishing activities in the said zone as referred to in Annex I (1).
Article 4
Fishing by Finnish vessels in the waters falling under the sovereignty or within the jurisdiction of Sweden within ICES division III d shall be subject to compliance with the conditions referred to in Annex I (2).
CHAPTER 2
Fishing conditions for Swedish vessels in waters falling under the sovereignty or within the jurisdiction of Finland
Article 5
Fishing by Swedish vessels in the waters falling under the sovereignty or within the jurisdiction of Finland within ICES division III d shall be subject to compliance with the conditions referred to in Annex II.
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 6
1. In order to present applications for prior authorization to fish to the competent authorities referred, the Member States shall notify to the Commission the lists of all the Community vessels flying their flag which intend to engage in the fishing activities referred to in Article 3 together with the necessary information.
2. Following this notification, the Commission shall forward the said lists to the Norwegian or Swedish authorities referred to in paragraph 1 after verifying that the necessary information is present and that the applications comply with the conditions referred to in Annex I (1).
3. As soon as the Commission receives the list of authorized vessels transmitted by the abovementioned competent authorities, the Commission shall forward them to the Member State concerned.
4. Vessels authorized to fish on 31 December may continue their fishing activities as from the beginning of the following year, on the basis of this authorization, until the new lists of vessels for the year in question have been approved by Sweden and it has issued the prior authorization to fish.
TITLE II DETAILED RULES CONCERNING ACCESS TO WATERS FALLING UNDER THE SOVEREIGNTY OR WITHIN THE JURISDICTION OF THE CURRENT MEMBER STATES, NOT INCLUDING ICES DIVISION III A AND ICES DIVISION III B (OERESUND) CHAPTER 1
Fishing conditions for Swedish vessels in the waters falling under the sovereignty or within the jurisdiction of the current Member States
Article 7
Fishing by Swedish vessels in the waters falling under the sovereignty or within the jurisdiction of the current Member States within ICES divisions III c and d and IV shall be subject to compliance with Articles 8, 9 and 10.
Article 8
1. Fishing in ICES sub-area IV and in ICES divisions III c and d shall be subject to prior authorization to fish issued by the Commission at the request of the Swedish authorities and subject to compliance with the conditions laid down in Annexes III and IV. Copies of the said Annexes shall be kept on board each vessel.
2. Sweden shall notify to the Commission when an application for a prior authorization to fish is requested the following information:
(a) name of the vessel;
(b) registration number;
(c) external identification letters and numbers;
(d) port of registration;
(e) name and address of the owner or charterer;
(f) gross tonnage and overall length;
(g) engine power;
(h) call sign and radio frequency;
(i) intended method of fishing;
(j) intended area of fishing;
(k) species for which it is intended to fish;
(l) period for which authorization is requested.
3. The Commission shall process expeditiously requests for adjustments to a list during its currency.
4. Prior authorizations to fish shall be issued for the purposes of paragraph 1 provided that the number of authorizations valid at any time does not exceed:
- 95 for the fishing of cod, sprat and herring in the Baltic Sea,
- 57 for the fishing of herring, sprat and mackerel in ICES divisions IV a and b,
- 25 for fishing of cod, haddock, whiting and others in ICES sub-area IV.
5. Each prior authorization to fish shall be valid for one vessel only. Where two or more vessels are taking part in the same fishing operation, each vessel must be in possession of a prior authorization to fish.
6. Prior authorization to fish may be cancelled with a view to the issue of new authorizations. Such cancellations shall take effect on the day before the date of issue of the new prior authorizations to fish by the Commission. New prior authorizations to fish shall take effect from their date of issue.
7. Prior authorizations to fish shall be wholly or partially withdrawn by the Commission before the date of expiry if the quotas have been exhausted.
8. Prior authorizations to fish shall be withdrawn by the Commission in the event of any failure to meet the obligations laid down in this Regulation.
9. For a period not exceeding 12 months, no prior authorization shall be issued for any vessel in respect of which the obligations laid down in this Regulation have not been met.
10. Vessels authorized to fish on 31 December may continue their fishing activities as from the beginning of the following year until the new lists of vessels for the year in question have been approved by the Commission and it has issued the prior authorizations to fish.
Article 9
Swedish vessels shall keep a log in which shall be entered the information referred to in Annex III hereto. They shall forward to the Commission the information referred to in Annex IV, in accordance with the rules laid down in that Annex.
Article 10
Where an infringement is duly established, Member States shall without delay inform the Commission of the name of the vessel involved and of any action they have taken.
The Commission shall submit to Sweden the name and the characteristics of the vessels which will not be authorized to fish in the fishing zone of the Community as at present constituted during the following month(s), as a consequence of the infringement of Community rules.
TITLE III DETAILED RULES CONCERNING ACCESS TO THE WATERS IN ICES DIVISION III A (SKAGERRAK AND KATTEGAT) AND IN ICES DIVISION III B (OERESUND)
Article 11
Fishing by Community vessels in ICES division II a (Skagerrak and Kattegat) shall be authorized subject to the quantitative catch restrictions fixed for that division.
Article 12
Fishing by Community vessels within ICES division III b (OEresund) shall be subject to compliance with the conditions laid down in Annex V.
TITLE IV FINAL PROVISION
Article 13
This Regulation shall enter into force on the date of and subject to the entry into force of the Treaty of Accession of Norway, Austria, Finland and Sweden.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 21 December 1994.