COUNCIL DECISION (EU) 2021/1875

of 22 October 2021

concerning the position to be adopted on behalf of the Union in the annual consultations with the United Kingdom to agree on total allowable catches

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 43(3), in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:

(1) On 29 April 2021 the Council adopted Decision (EU) 2021/689 (1) on the conclusion of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part (2) (the ‘Trade and Cooperation Agreement’). The Trade and Cooperation Agreement entered into force on 1 May 2021.

(2) Under Article 494 of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the Union and the United Kingdom (the ‘Parties’) agreed to cooperate with a view to ensuring that fishing activities for shared stocks in their waters are environmentally sustainable in the long term and contribute to achieving economic and social benefits, while fully respecting the rights and obligations of independent coastal States as exercised by the Parties. The Parties share the objective of exploiting shared stocks at rates intended to maintain and progressively restore populations of harvested species above biomass levels that can produce the maximum sustainable yield (MSY).

(3) Pursuant to Article 498 of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the Parties are to hold annual consultations to agree on total allowable catches (TACs) for shared stocks.

(4) The Commission should carry out the annual consultations on behalf of the Union and on the basis of Union positions to be established by the Council in accordance with the relevant Treaty provisions.

(5) The regular and full involvement of the Council and its preparatory bodies in the process of annual consultations with the United Kingdom on fixing fishing opportunities for the stocks in question should be ensured by means of extensive coordination and cooperation between the Council and the Commission, in accordance with the principle of sincere cooperation among the Union institutions enshrined in Article 13(2) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU).

(6) The European Parliament is to be immediately and fully informed pursuant to Article 218(10) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

(7) Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) requires the Union 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.

(8) Article 2(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 requires the Union to apply the precautionary approach to fisheries management and to aim to ensure that exploitation of living marine biological resources restores and maintains populations of harvested species above levels that can produce MSY.

(9) Article 2(5), point (j), of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 requires that fisheries management be coherent with the objective of achieving a good environmental status as set out in Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (4). Article 2(5), point (a), of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, read in conjunction with Article 7(1), point (d), of that Regulation, further requires the Union to gradually eliminate discards by, inter alia, promoting fishing methods that contribute to more selective fishing and to the avoidance and reduction, as far as possible, of unwanted catches, as well as fishing with low impact on marine ecosystem and fishery resources.

(10) Article 3, point (c), of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 provides that the Union is to take management and conservation measures based on the best available scientific advice.

(11) Article 28 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 provides that the Union is to conduct its external fisheries relations in accordance with the objectives and principles set out in Articles 2 and 3 of that Regulation and is to, inter alia, actively support and contribute to the development of scientific knowledge and advice. Article 28 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 also provides that the provisions on external policy set out in Part VI of that Regulation are without prejudice to specific provisions adopted under Article 218 TFEU.

(12) Article 33 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 lays down principles and objectives of the management of stocks of common interest to the Union and third countries, as well as provisions concerning agreements on exchange and joint management.

(13) In view of the evolving nature of fishery resources covered by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the need for the Union’s position to take account of new developments, including new scientific and other relevant information presented before or during the annual consultations, provisions should be laid down for the year-to-year specification of the Union position in those consultations. Those provisions should be in accordance with the principle of sincere cooperation among the Union institutions enshrined in Article 13(2) TEU.

(14) Pursuant to point 2(c) of Annex II to Council Decision (EU) 2021/1765 (5), the Union may seek to record matters agreed by the Parties following consultations under Article 498 of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

(15) It is therefore appropriate to establish the position to be adopted on behalf of the Union in the annual consultations with the United Kingdom, as the outcome of those consultations should be implemented into Union law,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1 1. The position to be adopted on behalf of the Union in the annual consultations with the United Kingdom on fishing opportunities for shared stocks, including deep-sea stocks, under Article 498 of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part (the ‘Trade and Cooperation Agreement’) is set out in the Annex to this Decision. 2. The specification of the Union’s position, as referred to in paragraph 1, shall be conducted on an annual basis in accordance with Article 2.

Article 2 1. The regular and full involvement of the Council throughout the annual consultations shall be ensured by means of extensive coordination and cooperation between the Council and the Commission. 2. Before the start of and throughout the annual consultations with the United Kingdom, the Commission shall take the steps necessary to ensure that the position to be expressed on behalf of the Union takes account of the latest scientific advice and other relevant information available, in accordance with the principles and orientations set out in the Annex. The position shall be reflected in the written record documenting the arrangements made between the Union and the United Kingdom resulting from the consultations under Article 498 of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. 3. To this effect, the Commission shall send to the Council, sufficiently in advance of the annual consultations and, where necessary, in the course of those consultations, a written document, based on the advice and information referred to in paragraph 2, setting out the particulars of the proposed specification of the Union’s position for discussion and endorsement of the details of the position to be expressed on the Union’s behalf. The Council shall remain seized of the matter throughout the process, and the Commission shall send to the Council, in sufficient time before signature of the written record referred to in paragraph 2, the Union’s position for approval of the detailed results of the annual consultations. 4. The process referred to in this Article shall include in situ coordination meetings, presentations, debriefings and discussions, and the full involvement of national delegations in the annual consultations, including as part of the Union delegation, and, when needed, in technical meetings. 5. If, in the course of the annual consultations, it is impossible for the Union to reach an agreement with the United Kingdom, and in order for the Union’s position to take account of new elements, the Commission shall refer the matter to the Council. 6. If, after the conclusion of the annual consultations, it is appropriate to amend the TACs in the year or years for which they were agreed, the Commission shall, in sufficient time and on the basis of the latest scientific and other relevant information and in accordance with the principles and orientations set out in the Annex, submit to the Council a new written document setting out the particulars of the proposed specification of the Union’s position regarding such amendment, for discussion and endorsement of the details of the position to be expressed on the Union’s behalf, before the signature of a written record.

Article 3 This Decision shall apply until 30 June 2027. It shall be assessed as necessary and, where appropriate, revised by the Council upon a proposal from the Commission. A review shall in any event take place by 30 June 2023.

Article 4 This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

Done at Brussels, 22 October 2021. For the Council The President G. DOVŽAN

(1) Council Decision (EU) 2021/689 of 29 April 2021 on the conclusion, on behalf of the Union, of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part, and of the Agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning security procedures for exchanging and protecting classified information (OJ L 149, 30.4.2021, p. 2).

(2) OJ L 149, 30.4.2021, p. 10.

(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) Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 establishing a framework for community action in the field of marine environmental policy (Marine Strategy Framework Directive) (OJ L 164, 25.6.2008, p. 19).

(5) Council Decision (EU) 2021/1765 of 5 October 2021 on the position to be adopted on behalf of the European Union, for the period 2021–2026, within the Specialised Committee on Fisheries established by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part (OJ L 355, 7.10.2021, p. 135).