COUNCIL DECISION (EU) 2019/867

of 14 May 2019

on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union in the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), and repealing the Decision of 24 June 2014 on the position to be adopted, on behalf of the Union, in the CCAMLR

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 43, in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:

(1) By Council Decision 81/691/EEC (1), the Union concluded the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (2) (‘CAMLR Convention’), which entered into force on 7 April 1982 and established the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). Belgium, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom are also Contracting Parties to the CAMLR Convention. Greece, the Netherlands and Finland are Contracting Parties to the CAMLR Convention but not Members of the CCAMLR.

(2) Pursuant to Article IX.1 of the CAMLR Convention, the CCAMLR is responsible for the adoption of conservation measures at its annual meetings designed to ensure the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources, including their rational use. Such measures may become binding upon the Union.

(3) Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) provides that the Union is to ensure that fishing and aquaculture activities are environmentally sustainable in the long term and are managed in a way that is consistent with the objectives of achieving economic, social and employment benefits, and of contributing to the availability of food supplies. It also provides that the Union is to apply the precautionary approach to fisheries management, and is to aim to ensure that exploitation of marine biological resources restores and maintains population of harvested species above levels which can produce the maximum sustainable yield. It further provides that the Union is to take management and conservation measures based on the best available scientific advice, to support the development of scientific knowledge and advice, to gradually eliminate discards, and to promote fishing methods that contribute to more selective fishing and the avoidance and reduction, as far as possible, of unwanted catches, to fishing with low impact on marine ecosystem and fishery resources. Furthermore, Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 specifically provides that those objectives and principles are to be applied by the Union in the conduct of its external fisheries relations.

(4) As stated in the Joint communication by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the European Commission ‘International ocean governance: an agenda for the future of oceans’, and the Council conclusions on that Joint communication, the promotion of measures to support and enhance the effectiveness of regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs) and, where relevant, improve their governance is central to the Union's action in these fora.

(5) The Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, to the Council, to the European Economic and Social Committee and to the Committee of the Regions ‘European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy’, refers to specific measures to reduce plastics and marine pollution as well as the loss or abandonment at sea of fishing gear.

(6) It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on the Union's behalf in the meetings of the CCAMLR for the period 2019-2023, as the CCAMLR conservation measures will be binding on the Union and capable of decisively influencing the content of Union law, namely, Council Regulations (EC) No 1035/2001 (4), (EC) No 600/2004 (5), (EC) No 601/2004 (6), (EC) No 1005/2008 (7) and (EC) No 1224/2009 (8), and Regulation (EU) 2017/2403 of the European Parliament and of the Council (9).

(7) That position should cover matters falling within shared Union competence only to the extent that they affect common Union rules. In accordance with the judgment of the Court of Justice in Joined Cases C-626/15 and C-659/16 (10), the Union should only support the establishment of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the CCAMLR area together with its Member States. This Decision should not affect the division of competences between the Union and its Member States.

(8) Currently, the position to be taken on the Union's behalf in the meetings of the CCAMLR is established by the Council Decision of 24 June 2014 on the position to be adopted, on behalf of the Union, in the CCAMLR. It is appropriate to repeal that Decision and to replace it by a new Decision which would cover the period 2019-2023.

(9) In view of the evolving nature of fishery resources in the CAMLR Convention Area and the consequent need for the position of the Union to take account of new developments, including new scientific and other relevant information presented before or during the meetings of the CCAMLR, procedures should be established, in line with the principle of sincere cooperation among the Union institutions enshrined in Article 13(2) of the Treaty on European Union, for the year-to-year specification of the Union's position for the period 2019-2023,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1 The position to be taken on the Union's behalf in the meetings of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) is set out in Annex I. That position covers matters falling within shared Union competence only to the extent that they affect common Union rules.

Article 2 The year-to-year specification of the Union's position to be taken in the meetings of the CCAMLR shall be conducted in accordance with Annex II.

Article 3 The Union's position set out in Annex I shall be assessed and, where appropriate, revised by the Council upon a proposal from the Commission, at the latest for the annual meeting of the CCAMLR in 2024.

Article 4 The Council Decision of 24 June 2014 on the position to be adopted, on behalf of the European Union, in the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) is hereby repealed.

Article 5 This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

Done at Brussels, 14 May 2019. For the Council The President P. DAEA

(1) Council Decision 81/691/EEC of 4 September 1981 on the conclusion of the Convention on the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources (OJ L 252, 5.9.1981, p. 26).

(2) OJ L 252, 5.9.1981, p. 27.

(3) Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy, amending Council Regulations (EC) No 1954/2003 and (EC) No 1224/2009 and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2371/2002 and (EC) No 639/2004 and Council Decision 2004/585/EC (OJ L 354, 28.12.2013, p. 22).

(4) Council Regulation (EC) No 1035/2001 of 22 May 2001 establishing a catch documentation scheme for Dissostichus spp. (OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 1).

(5) Council Regulation (EC) No 600/2004 of 22 March 2004 laying down certain technical measures applicable to fishing activities in the area covered by the Convention on the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources (OJ L 97, 1.4.2004, p. 1).

(6) Council Regulation (EC) No 601/2004 of 22 March 2004 laying down certain control measures applicable to fishing activities in the area covered by the Convention on the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources and repealing Regulations (EEC) No 3943/90, (EC) No 66/98 and (EC) No 1721/1999 (OJ L 97, 1.4.2004, p. 16).

(7) Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 of 29 September 2008 establishing a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, amending Regulations (EEC) No 2847/93, (EC) No 1936/2001 and (EC) No 601/2004 and repealing Regulations (EC) No 1093/94 and (EC) No 1447/1999 (OJ L 286, 29.10.2008, p. 1).

(8) Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 of 20 November 2009 establishing a Union control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the common fisheries policy, amending Regulations (EC) No 847/96, (EC) No 2371/2002, (EC) No 811/2004, (EC) No 768/2005, (EC) No 2115/2005, (EC) No 2166/2005, (EC) No 388/2006, (EC) No 509/2007, (EC) No 676/2007, (EC) No 1098/2007, (EC) No 1300/2008, (EC) No 1342/2008 and repealing Regulations (EEC) No 2847/93, (EC) No 1627/94 and (EC) No 1966/2006 (OJ L 343, 22.12.2009, p. 1).

(9) Regulation (EU) 2017/2403 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2017 on the sustainable management of external fishing fleets, and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1006/2008 (OJ L 347, 28.12.2017, p. 81).

(10) ECLI:EU:C:2018:925.