EN

(...PICT...)|COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES|

Brussels , 8.2.2010

SEC(2008) 3108/2

CORRIGENDUM: Annule et remplace le document SEC(2008) 3108 final du 12.1.2009 Concerne uniquement la version anglaise

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT I

ANNUAL REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT on Member States' efforts during 2007 to achieve a sustainable balance between fishing capacity and fishing opportunities {COM(2008) 902final/2} {SEC(2009) 645}

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Fleet Management under the Common Fisheries Policy 4

Entry-exit regime 4

Reference Levels for the mainland fleet 5

Management of fleet reference levels in the outermost regions 5

Community Fishing Fleet Register 5

Evolution of Community fishing fleet capacity 6

Summary Tables and Graphs 7

Table 1: Compliance with the entry-exit ceiling at 31 December 2007 (except outermost regions) 7

Figure 1: Overall trend of the Community fleet capacity ceiling (except outermost regions) 8

Table 2: Compliance with Reference Levels at 31 December 2007 (except outermost regions) 9

Figure 2: Overall trend of the Community fleet reference levels 10

Table 3: Fleet capacity variations between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2007 (except outermost regions) 11

Table 4: Fleet capacity variations between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2007 in the outermost regions 12

Figure 3: Trend in the number of EU fishing vessels between 1992 and 2007 13

Figure 4: Trend in the EU fishing fleet capacity in terms of tonnage between 1992 and 2007 13

Figure 5: Trend in the EU fishing fleet capacity in terms of power (kW) between 1992 and 2007 14

Fleet Management under the Common Fisheries Policy

Entry-exit regime

From 1 January 2003 Member States have been obliged to respect a strict entry-exit regime applying to the capacity of their mainland fleets For fleets registered in outermost regions, rules are slightly different (see below). , measured in terms of both tonnage and power. Any entry of capacity into the fleet of a Member State has to be compensated by the previous exit of at least the same amount of capacity (entry to exit ratio of 1:1). The only exception being capacity increases resulting from works to improve safety, hygiene or living and working conditions on board in accordance with Article 11(5) of Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002. For entries of new vessels between 100 and 400 GT built with public aid (the administrative decisions granting aid were possible only until 31 December 2004) the Member State has to withdraw 35% more capacity than it introduces (entry to exit ratio of 1:1.35).[1]

For fleets registered in outermost regions, rules are slightly different (see below).

Another important rule is that capacity leaving the fleet with public aid cannot be replaced. Such capacity is subtracted directly from the maximum fleet capacity of each Member State . Capacity reductions supported with public aid are therefore permanent.

In July 2007 the Council adopted an amendment to the fleet management provisions which allows Member States, with effect from 1 January 2007, to re-allocate 4% of the capacity scrapped with public aid in order to improve safety on board, working conditions, hygiene and product quality. The amendment also includes the possibility to re-allocate for the purpose of the aforementioned safety improvements 4% of the average annual tonnage withdrawn with public aid between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2006 for Member States that were part of the Community on 1 January 2003, and between 1 May 2004 and 31 December 2006 for the Member States that acceded to the Community on 1 May 2004. These amendments have slightly increased the tonnage ceilings for most Member States.

All of this means that, as a general rule, the capacity of the national fleets cannot increase with respect to its levels on 1 January 2003, for 'EU 15' Member States and on the accession date for the Member States, which acceded to the Community after 2003.

In practice this is likely to be the case. However, in accordance with Articles 6, 6a, 7 and 7a of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1438/2003, the implementing rules for the fleet policy allow for the registration of vessels outside the framework of the entry-exit regime if administrative decisions have been adopted by the national authorities:

a) between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 2002 for those vessels to enter the fleet after 1 January 2003 in 'EU 15' Member States and,

b) up to five years before the accession date for those vessels joining the fleet of Member States which acceded to the Community after 1 January 2003.

The combination of these rules results in the calculation by the Commission of a variable capacity ceiling for the fleet of each Member State , excluding the fleets registered in the outermost regions. The sum of all Member States capacity ceilings is compared to the total capacity of the Community fleet since 1 January 2003 in figure 1. Detailed results per Member State are available on the website of Directorate General for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs.

The capacity of each Member State in relation to its capacity ceiling on 31 December 2007 is shown in Table 1.

Reference Levels for the mainland fleet

The reference levels for the fleets of Member States are the sum of the global final objectives of the Fourth Multi-annual Guidance Programme (MAGP IV) as established by Article 12 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002. Since the reference levels are a legacy of MAGP IV 4 th Multiannual Guidance Programs (period 1997- 2002), the Council decided that they would not apply to the 'EU 10' Member States (Council Regulation (EC) No 1242/2004 Council Regulation (EC) No 1242/2004 (OJ L 236 of 7 July 2004, p. 1 – 2) ). Member States may not exceed their reference levels at any time.[2][3]

4 th Multiannual Guidance Programs

Council Regulation (EC) No 1242/2004 (OJ L 236 of 7 July 2004, p. 1 – 2)

In the same way as it is done for the entry exit regime, the reference levels are revised to take into account the amount of capacity scrapped, the increase in tonnage under the provisions of Article 11(5) of Regulation 2371 and the 35% extra capacity withdrawn for new vessels of 100 GT or more built with public aid after 1 January 2003.

For the 'EU 15' Member States, the comparison between the capacity of their fleets and the reference levels is shown in figure 2. For the majority of the 'EU 15' Member States, the reference levels are in fact much greater than the capacity ceilings resulting from the entry-exit regime, which makes the former irrelevant. Detailed results per Member State are available on the website of Directorate General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

Management of fleet reference levels in the outermost regions

The fishing fleets registered in the Community outermost regions, namely the French Overseas Departments, the Spanish Canary Islands and the Portuguese Azores and Madeira have to comply with specific reference levels for these regions in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 639/2004 Council Regulation (EC) No 639/2004 (OJ L 102 of 7 April 2004, p. 9 – 11) and Commission Regulation (EC) No 2104/2004 Commission Regulation (EC) No 2104/2004 (OJ L 365 of 10 December 2004, p. 19 – 21) .[4][5]

Council Regulation (EC) No 639/2004 (OJ L 102 of 7 April 2004, p. 9 – 11)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 2104/2004 (OJ L 365 of 10 December 2004, p. 19 – 21)

Community Fishing Fleet Register

In 2004, the new Community Fleet Register (CFR) was set up in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No 26/2004. The more comprehensive CFR was necessary in order to follow up the new CFP rules for managing the fishing capacity of the EU fleet which entered into force on 1st January 2003. This system, following the 2002 CFP reform, gives more responsibility to the Member States in achieving a better balance between the fishing capacity of their fleets and the available resources.

The CFR is the main tool for monitoring the fishing fleet. In accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No 26/2004, Member States are obliged on a quarterly basis to transmit electronically all relevant information ("snapshots" shall be sent on the first working day of March, June, September and December) on the characteristics of 88,236 (on 31 December 2007) commercial fishing vessels, together with information on entries to and exits from the fleet. Furthermore, the CFR is managed via a web-based application, called the Community Fleet Register On the Net (FRONT). The FRONT is also available for the general public on the following web page: http://ec.europa.eu/comm/fisherie s /fleet/index.cfm

It is important to note that all information which is provided in this Annex and can be found on the "Europa" site http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/fleet/index.cfm?method=FM_Reporting.AnnualReport has been taken from the CFR, with the exception of:[6]

http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/fleet/index.cfm?method=FM_Reporting.AnnualReport

– data on entries corresponding to administrative decisions taken by national authorities before 1 January 2003 (or accession date for Member States which acceded after 1 January 2003) and for which the special transitional provisions established in the regulation apply;

– data on exits with public aid in some cases where this information was not available.

Only in these two cases has the information been taken directly from the Member States.

Evolution of Community fishing fleet capacity

Figures 4, 5 and 6 aim at providing a historical perspective for the evolution of fishing capacity in the Community. They are based on the data available in the CFR and comprise the whole Community fleet, including the vessels registered in the outermost regions. They show the evolution of the capacity of the Community fishing fleet since 1992. The graph for tonnage needs to be interpreted with care since the tonnage measurement units have changed over the period covered; this may be easily appreciated during the years 1999 to 2001. Despite this shortcoming these graphs show a steady but modest decline in fleet capacity in terms of tonnage and power and a slightly greater reduction in terms of number of vessels. It may also be noticed that the successive enlargements have moderately increased the overall fishing capacity, but the global reduction trend has remained unchanged.

Summary Tables and Graphs

Table 1: Compliance with the entry-exit ceiling at 31 December 2007 (except outermost regions)

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Bold Italic indicates that the ceiling has been exceeded .

Figure 1: Overall trend of the Community fleet capacity ceiling (except outermost regions)

Note: Increase of the overall fleet capacity on 1 May 2004 is due to the accession of the 'EU 10' Member States

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Table 2: Compliance with Reference Levels at 31 December 2007 (except outermost regions)

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Figure 2: Overall trend of the Community fleet reference levels

(Only for the Member States concerned, except the outermost regions)

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Table 3: Fleet capacity variations between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2007 (except outermost regions)

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Table 4: Fleet capacity variations between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2007 in the outermost regions

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Figure 3: Trend in the number of EU fishing vessels between 1992 and 2007

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Figure 4: Trend in the EU fishing fleet capacity in terms of tonnage between 1992 and 2007

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Figure 5: Trend in the EU fishing fleet capacity in terms of power (kW) between 1992 and 2007

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[1] For fleets registered in outermost regions, rules are slightly different (see below).

[2] 4 th Multiannual Guidance Programs

[3] Council Regulation (EC) No 1242/2004 (OJ L 236 of 7 July 2004, p. 1 – 2)

[4] Council Regulation (EC) No 639/2004 (OJ L 102 of 7 April 2004, p. 9 – 11)

[5] Commission Regulation (EC) No 2104/2004 (OJ L 365 of 10 December 2004, p. 19 – 21)

[6] http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/fleet/index.cfm?method=FM_Reporting.AnnualReport