EN    EN  COMMISSION OF THE E UROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels, 11.11.2005 
COM(2005) 566 final 
2005/0223 (COD)   
Proposal for a 
REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 
on the submission of data on landings of fishery products in Member States 
(presented by the Commission) 
 
EN 2   EN EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM  
1) CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL  
110 • Grounds for and objectives of the proposal  
The current community legislation base d on Council Regulation (EEC) No 1382/91 on 
the submission of data on the landings of fishery products in Member States requires 
the Member States to submit to the Co mmission monthly data on the quantity and 
value of landings of fishery products in th eir ports. An analysis  of the methods of 
collecting and compiling the data by the nation al authorities and of  the uses made of 
such data by the Commission's services have  revealed that improvements can be made 
which would reduce the workload on the Member States and improve the usefulness of 
the data. 
120 • General context  
The community legislation on fishery statisti cs was designed to pr ovide a total national 
coverage of harmonised monthly data on the landings of fi shery products to 
supplement the data submissions on a more lim ited range of products in selected ports 
under Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000  on the common organisation of the 
market in fishery and aquaculture products. 
130 • Existing provisions in the area of the proposal  
The proposal is designed to improve and re place the existing community legislation 
and Council Regulation (EEC) No 1382/ 91 should therefore be repealed. 
141 • Consistency with the other policies and objectives of the Union  
Not applicable. 
2) CONSULTATION OF INTERESTED PARTIES AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT  
 • Consultation of interested parties  
211 Consultation methods, main sectors targ eted and general pr ofile of respondents  
The national fishery statisticians were pres ented with, and discussed, a working paper 
containing the technical elemen ts of the current proposal. 
212 Summary of responses and how th ey have been taken into account  
Subject to minor editorial changes, the working paper was unanimously approved by 
the national fishery statisticians. 
 • Collection and use of expertise  
221 Scientific/expertise domains concerned  
The national representatives in the meeting of Eurostat's Working Group "Fishery 
Statistics" were expert s with knowledge of the existing legislation a nd with expertise in 
 
EN 3   EN the national systems of collecting and compiling fishery statistics. 
222 Methodology used  
Open discussion between the experts in the meetings of  the Working Group "Fishery 
Statistics" 
223 Main organisations/experts consulted  
The experts were from the national fishery ministries and/or the national statistical 
institutes. 
2249 Summary of advice received and used  
The existence of potentially serious risks with  irreversible conse quences has not been 
mentioned. 
225 Since the current proposal is a simplification of the existing legislation no risks were 
identified. 
226 Means used to make the exper t advice publicly available  
The results of the experts' discussions were  included in the minutes of the meeting of 
the Working Group "Fishery Statistics". 
230 • Impact assessment  
Since the current proposal is a simplifica tion of the existing legislation an impact 
assessment was considered unnecessary. 
As the proposal is a modification and si mplification of existing legislation no 
information campaign of financial in centives is considered appropriate. 
3) LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL  
305 • Summary of the proposed action  
The objective of this Regulati on shall be to provide for the submission by the Member 
States of harmonised data on the quantity a nd value of landings on their territories to 
permit analyses of the market for fishery pr oducts and more genera l economic analyses 
of the situation in fisheries. The Regulation differs from the existing legislation in three 
main respects. Firstly, the submissions are to  be of annual data as opposed to monthly 
data. Monthly data submitted up to six months after the reference month were found to be of limited use for the day- to-day management of the ma rket while annual data are 
useful for medium- to long-term analyses of  the market and reduce the workload of the 
national authorities in the s ubmission of the data. Secondly , the submissions are to be 
required by the flag (or nationa lity) of the vessels respons ible for the landings. This 
requirement, as opposed to the current subm issions by the broad groups of EU vessels, 
of EFTA vessels and of other vessels, will permit more detailed analyses of the data and yet not significantly increase the worklo ad on the national authorities who already 
collect the data in this detail. Lastly, in circumstances where the structural characteristics of the fisheries sector w ould result in difficulties for the national 
 
EN 4   EN authorities incommensurate with the importan ce of the sector, the Regulation permits a 
more flexible approach to the use of samp ling techniques for the estimation of the total 
landings. Subject to a justification for their use and an analysis of  the quality of the 
resultant data in a methodologica l report, the national authorities will be  able to employ 
an appropriate level of sampling tech niques for the collect ion of the data. 
310 • Legal basis  
Article 285 provides the legal basis for Community statisti cs. The Council, acting in 
accordance with the codecision procedure, sh all adopt measures for the production of 
statistics where necessary for the performan ce of the activities of the Community. This 
Article sets out requirement s relating to the production of Community statistics and 
requires conformity to standa rds of impartiality, reliab ility, objectivity, scientific 
independence, cost-effectiveness and statistical confidentiality. 
320 • Subsidiarity principle  
The subsidiarity principle applies inso far as the proposal does not fall under the 
exclusive competence of the Community. 
 The objectives of the proposal cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States 
for the following reason(s). 
321 Action by the Member States alone will be in sufficient to ensure the availability of 
comparable statistics required for the development and monitoring of fair and effective Community policies on the common organi sation of the markets in fishery and 
aquaculture products. The increasing importance of this sector means that reliable and 
comparable statistics are needed by the Me mber States. Action by the Member States 
alone, without coordination and harmonisation at Union level, will be an inefficient and ineffective approach to meeting this need. In accordance with the principle of 
subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the EC Treaty, the objective of the proposed 
action, namely the systematic submission of data on the landing of  fishery products for 
the production of harmonised Community stat istics, cannot be sufficiently achieved by 
the Member States acting individually a nd can therefore be better achieved by the 
Community. 
323 Experience has shown that Member States co llect data on the quant ities and values of 
landings but use a variety of concepts and definitions which result in the non-comparability of the data at the EU level and thus seriously reduce their usefulness in the management of the market for fishery products. 
 Community action will better achieve the obj ectives of the proposal for the following 
reason(s). 
324 The Regulation provides for the coordination an d harmonisation of data at the EU level 
and the submission by the national authorities  of reports on the methodology used in 
the collection and compilation of the data. Thes e reports shall be subject to a review of 
the content and quality of the submitted data by the Working Group "Fishery Statistics" of the Standing Committee on Agricultural Statistics. Subject to the acceptance of these methodological reports, the national authorities shall be permitted to use such techniques in the collection of the data as are appropriate to  the structure of fisheries on 
 
EN 5   EN their territory. 
325 Although the Commission is best able to organise the collec tion of Community 
statistics, the Member States are competen t in the organisation and operation of the 
national statistical systems.  Council Regulation (EC) 322/ 97 of 17 February 1997 on 
Community statistics provides that Community  statistics shall be governed by inter alia 
the principles of impartiality and statisti cal confidentiality. Impartiality implies the 
availability of statistics, with a minimum delay, to all users. It is conditioned by the 
obligation that data used by the nationa l authorities and the Commission for the 
production of Community stat istics be considered confidential when they allow 
statistical units to be identified, either directly or indirectl y, thereby disclosing 
individual information. The national author ities are required to submit methodological 
reports which are reviewed by the Working Group "Fishery Statistics" to assess the 
quality of the national systems for the collection and compilation of the data. 
327 The analysis of the Community market for fi shery products has to be undertaken at the 
EU level using harmonised and comparable national data. 
 The proposal therefore complies wi th the subsidiarity principle. 
 • Proportionality principle  
The proposal complies with the proportionali ty principle for the following reason(s). 
331 It is recognised that there are wide variations in the struct ures of the fisheries in the 
Member States and consequently that there are differences in the tasks of the national 
authorities in collecting and compiling the da ta on the volume and value of landings of 
fishery products. Accordingly the national au thorities may employ such techniques for 
the collection of data that are appropriate to the structure of the fisheries and are 
commensurate with the importance of the sector. In accordance with the principle of 
proportionality this Regulation confines itself  to the minimum required to achieve this 
objective and does not go beyond what is necessary for that purpose. 
332 The financial and administrative burden on the national authorities will be no greater 
than that of the existing legislation. Indeed  the requirement for annual rather than 
monthly data submissions and the possibi lity of an increased use of sampling 
techniques should re duce this burden. 
 • Choice of instruments  
341 Proposed instruments: Regulation. 
342 Other means would not be adequate for the following reason(s). 
Selection of the appropriate category fo r an act of the EP/Council depends on the 
legislative goal. Given the information n eeds at European level, the trend for 
Community statistics has been to use Regulati ons rather than Directives for basic acts. 
Regulation is preferable because it lays down the same law throughout the Community, 
leaving the Member States with no power to apply them incompletely or selectively; it 
is directly applicable, which means that it ne eds not be transposed into national law. In 
contrast, directives, which aim at harm onisation of national laws, are binding on 
 
EN 6   EN Member States as regards their objectives, but leave the national authorities the choice 
of form and methods used to obtain the objectives agreed upon at the Community 
level; they must be transposed into national law. The use of a Regulation is in line with 
other statistical legal acts which have been adopted since 1997. 
4) BUDGETARY IMPLICATION  
409 The proposal has no implication for the Community budget. 
5) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION  
 • Simulation, pilot phase and transitory period  
507 There was or there will be a tr ansitory period for the proposal. 
510 • Simplification  
511 The proposal provides for simplification of legislation. 
512 The current community legisl ation requires the Member States to submit to the 
Commission monthly data on th e quantity and value of landi ngs of fishery products in 
their ports. An analysis of the methods of collecting and compiling the data by the 
national authorities an d of the uses made of such da ta by the Commission's services 
have revealed that improvements can be ma de which would reduce the workload on the 
Member States and improve the usefulness of the data. The Regulation differs from the existing legislation. Firstly, the submissions are to be of annual data as opposed to 
monthly data. Secondly, the submissions are to be required by the flag (or nationality) 
of the vessels responsible for the landings. This requirement, as opposed to the current 
submissions by the broad groups of EU vessels , of EFTA vessels and of other vessels, 
will permit more detailed analyses of the data and yet not significantly increase the workload on the national authorities who alread y collect the data in this detail. Lastly, 
the proposed Regulation permits a more flex ible approach to the use of sampling 
techniques for the estimati on of the total landings. 
517 The proposal is included in the Commissi on's Work and Legislative Programme under 
the reference 2004/ESTAT/010. 
520 • Repeal of existing legislation  
The adoption of the proposal will lead to the repeal of existing legislation. 
560 • European Economic Area  
The proposed act concerns an EEA matter a nd should therefore exte nd to the European 
Economic Area. 
  
 
EN 7   EN  
2005/0223 (COD) 
Proposal for a 
REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 
on the submission of data on landings of fishery products in Member States 
 
(Text with EEA relevance) 
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE CO UNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing th e European Community, and in particular 
Article 285(1) thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission1, 
Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty2, 
Whereas: (1) Council Regulation (EEC) No 1382/91 of 21 May 1991 on the submission of data on 
the landings of fishery products in Member States
3 requires Member States to submit 
data on the quantities and average prices of fishery products landed on their territory. 
(2) Experience has shown that analyses of the market for fishery products and other 
economic analyses would not be adversely affected if data were submitted under Community legislation at yearly rather than monthly intervals. 
(3) Analyses would be enhanced if data were  broken down by the flag state of vessels 
carrying out landings. 
(4) Regulation (EEC) No 1382/91 imposes a limit on sampling permitted when collecting 
and compiling data that places an excessive burden on certain national authorities. In 
order to improve the system and to make  it simpler, Regulation (EEC) No 1382/91 
should be replaced by this Regulation. 
(5) Since the objective of the pl anned action, namely the esta blishment of a common legal 
framework for the systematic production of Community statistics of data on landings 
of fishery products in Member States, cannot be sufficiently achieved at national level 
and can be better achie ved at Community level, the Community may adopt measures 
                                                
 
1 OJ C [..] , [..], p. [..]. 
2 OJ C [..] , [..], p. [..]. 
3 OJ L 133, 28.5.1991, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003 of the 
European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 284, 31.10.2003, p. 1 
 
EN 8   EN in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity  as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In 
accordance with the principle of proportional ity as set out in that Article, this 
Regulation does not go beyond what is nece ssary to achieve that objective. 
(6) Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 of 17 February 1997 on Community statistics4 
provides a reference framework fo r statistics in the field of fisheries. In particular it 
requires conformity with standards of impa rtiality, reliability, objectivity, scientific 
independence, cost-effectiveness and statistical confidentiality. 
(7) It is important to ensure the uniform applic ation of this Regulation and, in order to do 
so, to make provision for a Community procedure to help determine the implementing 
arrangements within an appropriate times cale and to make the necessary technical 
adaptations. 
(8) The measures necessary for the implementation of this Regulation should be adopted 
in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of impl ementing powers conferred on the Commission
5, 
HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 
Article 1 
Definitions  
For the purposes of this Regulation, th e following definitions shall apply: 
(1) “Community vessels” means vessels flying th e flag of, or regist ered in, a Community 
Member State.  
(2) “EFTA vessels” means vessels flying the fl ag of, or registered in, an EFTA country; 
(3) “Unit value” means:  
(a) the value at first sale in national currency per tonne, or 
(b) for products not immediately sold, th e average price per tonne in national 
currency, estimated using an appropriate method.  
Article 2 
 Obligations of the Member States 
1. Each year each Member State shall submit to the Commission statis tics of the fishery 
products landed on its territo ry by Community and EFTA vessels (“the statistical 
data”). 
2. For the purposes of this Regulation, the fo llowing fishery products are deemed to be 
landed on the territory of th e reporting Member State: 
                                                 
4 OJ L 52, 22.2.1997, p.1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003 (OJ L 284, 
31.10.2003, p.1). 
5 OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23 
 
EN 9   EN (a) products landed by fishing vessels or ot her parts of the fish ing fleet in national 
ports; 
(b) products landed by vessels of the reporting Member State in non-Community 
ports and covered by the T2M form a nnexed to Commissi on Regulation (EEC) 
No 2454/93 of 2 July 1993 laying down pr ovisions for the implementation of 
Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 es tablishing the Community Customs 
Code  
Article 3 
Compilation of statistics 
1. The statistical data shall cover total landings on na tional territory 
2. Sampling techniques may be employed in those circumstances where, owing to the 
structural characteristics of a particular sector of the fisheries of a Member State, 
comprehensive data collection would result in difficulties for the national authorities 
incommensurate with the importance of that sector.  
Article  4 
Data  
The statistical data shall relate to the total quantities and unit values of th e products landed in 
the reference calendar year. 
The variables for which statistical data need to be submitted, their definitions and the relevant 
nomenclatures are given in  Annexes II, III and IV. 
Article 5  
Submission of statistical data 
The Member States shall submit the statistical data to the Commission on an annual basis in 
accordance with the format specified in Annex I and using the codes set out in Annexes II, III 
and IV. 
The statistical data shall be submitted within six months of the end of the reference year. 
Article 6 
Methodology 
1. Within 12 months of the entry into force of  this Regulation, each Member State shall 
submit a detailed methodological report to the Commission describing how the data 
have been collected and the statistics comp iled. That report shall include details of 
any sampling techniques and an evaluation of  the quality of the resulting estimates.  
2. The Commission shall examine the reports and present its conclusions to the relevant 
working group of the Standing Comm ittee for Agricultural Statistics. 
 
EN 10   EN 3. The Member States shall inform the Commi ssion of any change in the information 
provided for under paragraph 1 within three months of its introduction. They shall 
also forward details of any substantial changes in the co llection methods used to the 
Commission. 
Article  7 
Transitional period  
Transitional periods for the implementation of this Regulation lasting not more than three 
years from the date of its entry into force ma y be granted to Member States in accordance 
with the procedure laid  down in Article 9(2). 
Article 8 
Derogations  
1. In cases where the inclusion in the statisti cs of a particular sector of the fisheries 
industry of a Member State would cause di fficulties to the national authorities 
incommensurate with the importance of that  sector, a derogation may be granted in 
accordance with the procedure laid down in  Article 9(2), permitting that Member 
State to exclude data covering that sector from the national data submitted. 
2. Member States shall support any re quests for derogations by sending the 
Commission a report on problems encountered  in applying this Regulation to total 
landings on its territory.  
Article 9 
Committee procedure 
1. The Commission shall be as sisted by the Standing Committee for Agricultural 
Statistics established by Article  1 of Council Decision 72/279/EEC6. 
2. Where reference is made to this paragra ph, the management procedure laid down in 
Articles 4 and 7 of Deci sion 1999/468/EC shall appl y, having regard to the 
provisions of Article 8 thereof. 
The period laid down in Artic le 4(3) of that Decisi on shall be three months. 
3. The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure. 
Article 10 
Repeal 
Regulation (EEC) No 1382/ 91 is hereby repealed. 
                                                 
6 OJ L 179, 7.8.1972, p. 1. 
 
EN 11   EN Article 11 
Entry into force 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in 
the Official Journal of  the European Union . 
This Regulation shall be binding in  its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. 
Done at Brussels,  
For the European Parliament For the Council 
The President The President 
 
EN 12   EN ANNEX I  
Format of data submitted  
Data file format 
The data are to be submitted in a file in which each record includes the fields indicated below. 
These fields are to be separated by a comma (“,”). 
Field Note Annex 
Reference year 4 digits (e.g. 2003)  
Reporting country Alpha-3 code  Annex II 
Species or species group International alpha-3 code* - 
Flag State  Alpha-3  Annex II 
Presentation  Annex III 
Intended use  Annex IV 
Quantity Tonnes landed (rounded to 
one decimal place)  
Unit value National currency per tonne  
* The full list of international alpha-3 species codes is to be found in FAO’s ASFIS file 
(http://www.fao.org/fi/statis t/fisoft/asfis/asfis.asp ) 
Quantities of less than 50 kg landed weight are to be recorded as “0.0”  
The technical adaptation of the contents of this  Annex shall be laid down in accordance with 
the procedure laid dow n in Article 9(2). 
 
EN 13   EN ANNEX II  
List of country codes  
Country Code 
  
Austria AUT 
Belgium BEL 
Cyprus CYP 
Czech Republic CZE 
Germany DEU 
Denmark DNK 
Spain ESP 
Estonia EST 
Finland FIN 
France FRA 
United Kingdom GBR 
Greece GRC 
Hungary HUN 
Ireland IRL 
Italy ITA 
Lithuania LTU 
Latvia LVA 
Luxembourg LUX 
Malta MLT 
Netherlands NLD 
Poland POL 
Portugal PRT 
Slovak Republic SVK 
 
EN 14   EN Slovenia SVN 
Sweden SWE 
  
Iceland ISL 
Norway NOR 
  
Other OTH 
The technical adaptation of the contents of this  Annex shall be laid down in accordance with 
the procedure laid dow n in Article 9(2). 
 
EN 15   EN ANNEX III  
List of presentation codes  
Part A 
List 
Presentation Code
Fresh (not specified) 10 
Fresh (whole) 11 
Fresh (gutted) 12 
Fresh (tails) 13 
Fresh (fillets) 14 
Fresh (gutted and headed) 16 
Fresh (skinned and dried) 17 
Fresh (live) 18 
Fresh (other) 19 
Frozen (not specified) 20 
Frozen (whole) 21 
Frozen (gutted) 22 
Frozen (tails) 23 
Frozen (fillets) 24 
Frozen (not filleted) 25 
Frozen (gutted and headed) 26 
Frozen (cleaned) 27 
Frozen (not cleaned) 28 
Frozen (other) 29 
Salted (not specified) 30 
Salted (whole) 31 
Salted (gutted) 32 
 
EN 16   EN Salted (fillets) 34 
Salted (gutted and headed) 36 
Salted (other) 39 
Smoked 40 
Cooked 50 
Cooked (frozen and packaged) 60 
Dried (not specified) 70 
Dried (whole) 71 
Dried (gutted) 72 
Dried (fillets) 74 
Dried (gutted and headed) 76 
Dried (other) 79 
Whole (not specified) 91 
Claws  80 
Eggs 85 
Presentation unknown 99 
Part B 
Notes 
1. Fillets : This term refers to strips of flesh cu t parallel to the backbone of the fish and 
consisting of the right or left side of the fish, provided that the head, viscera, fins 
(dorsal, anal, caudal, ventral, pectoral ) and bones (vertebrae or large backbone, 
ventral or costal, bronchial or stirrup bones, etc.) have been removed and the two 
sides are not connected, for ex ample by the back or stomach. 
2. Whole fish : Refers to ungutted fish. 
3. Cleaned:  Refers to squid where the arms, h ead and internal organs have been 
removed from the body. 
4. Frozen fish : Fish that have been subjected to freezing in a manner to preserve the 
inherent quality of the fish by reducing the average temperature to -18 ° C or lower 
and which are then kept at a te mperature of -18 ° C or lower. 
5. Fresh fish : Fish that have not been preserved, cu red, frozen or otherwise treated other 
than chilled. They are genera lly presented whole or gutted.  
 
EN 17   EN 6. Salted fish : Fish often in gutted and headed form, preserved in salt or brine. 
The technical adaptation of the contents of th is Annex shall be laid down in accordance with 
the procedure laid dow n in Article 9(2).
 
EN 18   EN ANNEX IV  
List of codes for intended use of products  
Part A 
List 
Part B Notes 
1.
 Human consumption : Included here are all products which are sold at first sale 
for human consumption or which are landed under contract or other agreement for 
human consumption. Excluded are quantitie s intended for human consumption but 
which, at the time of first sale, are withdrawn from the market for human consumption owing to market conditions, hygiene regulations or similar causes 
reasons. 
2. Industrial uses
: Included here are all products specifically landed for reduction to 
meal and oil for consumption by animals, and quantities which, although originally 
intended for human consumption, are not so ld for that purpose at first sale.  
The technical adaptation of the contents of this  Annex shall be laid down in accordance with 
the procedure laid dow n in Article 9(2). Destination Code 
Human consumption 1 
Industrial uses 2 
Withdrawn from the market 3 
Bait 4 
Animal feed 5 
Waste 6 
Intended use unknown 9