Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92 establishing a Community system for fisheries and aquaculture (96/C 316/08) COM(96) 350 final - 96/0183(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission 19 September 1996) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 43 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee,

Whereas Article 4 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92, of 20 December 1992 establishing a Community system for fisheries and aquaculture (1), as amended by the Act of Accession of 1994, lays down the procedure for adopting Community measures fixing the conditions under which exploitation activities are to be pursued; whereas in this regard powers should be conferred on the Commission as regards the technical measures on fishing gear and its method of use which do no more than incorporate into the Community legal order binding acts adopted within the framework of international fisheries organizations to which the Community is a Contracting Party and do not entail a policy adjustment in their adoption;

Whereas Article 8 of Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92 lays down that the Council is to determine for each fishery or group of fisheries the total allowable catch and to allocate a total allowable fishing effort for these fisheries between the Member States; whereas the Article does not provide for the exercise of powers by the Council as regards allocating catches in Community waters to vessels of third countries authorized to fish in those waters; whereas powers to establish the fishing opportunities for allocation to third countries and to set the technical conditions under which catches must be made should accordingly be conferred;

Whereas the temporary technical conservation measures associated with the conditions under which the quotas can be fished may be adopted using the same procedure as that laid down for establishing the total allowable catch,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92 is hereby amended as follows:

1. The following paragraph 3 is added to Article 4:

'3. The technical measures on fishing gear and its method of use incorporating binding acts adopted by international fisheries organizations to which the Community is a Contracting Party shall be adopted by the Commission in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 18.` 2. Article 8 (2) is replaced by the following:

'2. Where restrictions must be placed on the exploitation rates of a fishery within or outside Community fishing waters for Community vessels, or within Community fishing waters for vessels flying the flag of a third country, they shall be fixed in accordance with paragraphs 3 and 4.` 3. In Article 8 (4):

(a) point (i) is replaced by:

'(i) shall determine for each fishery or group of fisheries, on a case-by-case basis, the total allowable catch together with the specific technical conditions linked to these restrictions of catches and/or the total allowable fishing effort, where appropriate on a multiannual basis. They shall be based on the management objectives and strategies where they have been established in accordance with paragraph 3`;

(b) the following point is added:

'(vi) shall establish the fishing opportunities to be allocated to third countries and the specific conditions under which catches must be made`.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

(1) OJ No L 389, 31. 12. 1992, p. 1.