COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMVTUNITIES 
C0M(93) 107 final 
Brussels, 17 March 1993 
Amended proposal for a 
COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) 
establishing a control system 
applicable to the common fisheries policy 
(presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 149(3) 
of the EEC-Treaty) 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 
As part of the process of revising the common fisheries policy and in order 
to remedy the inadequacies of the current monitoring and control system, the 
Commission presented to the Council on 19 October 1992 a proposal for a 
Council Regulation (EEC) establishing a control system applicable to the 
common fisheries policy*. 
On 15 December Parliament adopted a resolution giving its opinion on the 
proposal and introducing 30 amendments. 
The resolution confirms the need to implement an overall, integrated control 
system which will have closer links between conservation measures and 
structural measures and apply to the entire fishing sector from production to 
marketing. 
Moreover, it affirms the need to give the Commission the means to guarantee 
the fairness and transparency of Member States' control efforts by 
implementing a system of unannounced Community monitoring of national 
inspections. Lastly, Parliament reaffirmed the need to include in national 
legislation a system of graduated detterent and equivalent penalties in order 
to avoid discrimination. 
In view of the common desire to strengthen controls the Commission has agreed 
to amend its initial proposal in the following ways: 
provision of the Commission with the financial, legal and legislative 
means to enable it to carry out its task (5th recital); 
consolidation of the minimum obligations imposed on Community vessels 
outside Community waters (Article 1(3)); 
inclusion of the control of distribution activities to enable 
verification of the implementation of the Regulation (Article 2(1)); 
- availability to the owners of the fishing vessels concerned of the 
information acquired during national inspections (first subparagraph of 
Article 19(3)); 
- strengthening of the calculation method applicable to the deductions made 
vis-à-vis a Member State which has overfished and caused a prejudice to 
another Member State (second subparagraph of Article 21(4)); 
fixing by Council of the method for calculating the penalty coefficients 
applicable to the deductions made vis-à-vis a Member State which has 
overfished (Article 25(1) point (b), insert after second subparagraph 
(new)); 
introduction of confidentiality with respect to information acquired 
during the market control process (Article 30(3)(a) (new)); 
- in the event of failure on the part of Member States to fulfil their 
obligation to cooperate with the Commission in its controls, the 
Commission may draw up a report which may be made public (Article 
31(6)(a)); 
COM(92) 392 final, 30 September 1992. ./ 
- inclusion of the principle of comparable penalties for comparable 
offences in the Member States (insert after first subparagraph of 
Article 32(3) (new)); 
annual report by the Commission on the controls implemented by the Member 
States. The report will be made public and may contain proposals to 
improve the controls (Article 38). 
In addition, the proposed Regulation needs to be amended to take into account 
the arguments underlying amendments which cannot be included as such without 
affecting the consistency of the text. 
These amendments relate to: 
- an extension of the number of species which have to be reported in 
logbooks - this will also allow a formal simplification of the text 
(Article 6(1) and (2)); 
- the assistance of the Management Committee in agreeing details of 
exemptions regarding satellite monitoring, the keeping of logbooks and 
landing declarations (Articles 3(5), 6(4) and 7(3)). 
On the other hand, the Commission has not included some amendments for 
reasons of formal consistency, even though they are based on arguments to 
which the Commission is sympathetic. Nevertheless, it will take them into 
account as far as possible in further discussions on the proposal. 
These are amendments relating to: 
- strengthening of cooperation between Member States with regard to the 
monitoring of fishing activities and extension of the right of pursuit in 
territorial waters and international waters with the agreement of the 
Member State concerned (tenth recital); 
- referral back to the Management Committee to establish exemptions to the 
single-net rule. 
In the former case, it seems more important that Member States make better 
use of existing legal possibilities in respect of the right of pursuit than 
to extend those possibilities. 
In the latter case, a very sensitive political issue with many divergent 
opinions among the Member States, and whatever the real problems linked to 
multi-purpose vessels are, only precise rules set out in a Council Regulation 
are feasible. But the necessary reasoned requests have not always been 
transmitted to the Commission. Technical measures linking authorized mesh 
sizes to catch composition cannot be monitored and put into practice without 
a simple rule governing the mesh size of the nets which a fishing vessel can 
use during a single fishing trip and therefore keep on board at a given time. 
The single-net rule provides all the necessary facilities in that regard. 
However, it restricts the opportunity to fish for more than one species 
during a single trip. This is why an exemption is needed, but it can only be 
accepted if complementary rules ensure that the Regulation's objective is not 
undermined. Since these conditions are satisfied by vessels carrying nets 
for use outside Community waters with mesh sizes greater than those required 
in Community waters, an exemption is provided for. 
/. 
Lastly, the Commission has not taken into account the other Parliament 
amendments for the following reasons: 
Either 
- they deal with taxation questions which exceed the scope of the present 
proposal; 
they conflict with the sharing of control responsibilities between the 
Commission and the Member States; 
they would unnecessarily delay the implementation of satellite 
techniques; 
- they would create operational difficulties or reduce the effectiveness of 
controls. 
Adoption of Parliament's amendments by the Council will demonstrate the 
unanimous agreement of the political institutions on the need to design 
effective controls in order to guarantee the success of the common fisheries 
policy. 
Amended proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) 
establishing a control system 
applicable to the common fisheries policy 
The proposal is amended as follows. 
Fifth recital 
Whereas, whilst control is first and foremost the responsibility of the Member 
States, only the Commission can seek to ensure that the Member Stat OH muni inl­
and prevent infringements in an equitable manner; whereas, therefore, the 
Commission should be provided with the financial, legal and legislative means 
to carry out thiB task as effectively as possible; 
Tenth recital (new) 
Whereas it is vital that Member States cooperate at the operational 1 eye 1 
during inspections at sea of fishing activities in order to allow effective 
and financially justifiable inspections, particularly of operations carried 
out outside the waters under the jurisdiction or sovereignty of a Member 
State; 
Art I do 1(1) 
This system shall apply to all fishing activities and to all associated 
activities carried out within the» territory and within I ho maritime walein 
subject to the uovor«lgnty and juri ud i <.t ion of l ho Mombor iitattsu; it jilirtll 
also apply to the activities of fishing vessels flying the flag of Member 
States which operate in third-country waters and on the high seas, without 
prejudice to the special provisions contained in fisheries agreements 
concluded between the Community and third countries or in international 
Conventions. Such agreements and Conventions may not, however, have the 
effect of imposing on Community vessels obligations which are less 
stringent than those laid down in this Regulation. 
Article 2(1) 
1. In order to ensure compliance with all the Regulations in force 
concerning conservation and control measures, each Member State shall, 
within its territory and within maritime waters subject to its sovereignty 
or jurisdiction, monitor fishing activity and related activities. Tt 
shall inspect fishing vessels and all activities whose inspection would 
enable verification of the implementation of this Regulation, including 
the activities of landing, selling and distributing, transporting and 
storing fish and recording landings and sales. 
The previous Article 3(5) is deleted 
Article 3(5) (new) 
Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 39 of this 
Regulation, the Commission may exempt from the obligations laid down in 
paragraph 1, for a limited, renewable period, certain types of vessel flying 
the flag of, or registered in, a Member State which are making a trip not 
exceeding 24 hours, measured from the time of departure from port to the time 
of return to port. 
The previous Article 6(1), (2), (3) and (5) are deleted 
Article 6(1) (new) 
1. Skippers pf fishing vessels flying the flag of, or registered in, a Member 
State shall keep a logbook of their operations indicating the quantities 
of each species caught and held on board, the date and location of such 
catches and the type of gear used. The location of the catch shall be 
given aa a grid reference rounded down to the nearest degree. 
Article 6(2) (new) 
2* The names of species which have to be recorded in the logbook in 
accordance with paragraph 1 shall be included in lists drawn up in 
accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 39 and which must 
contain any stock or group of stocks subject to a TAC (total admissible 
catch) or quota. 
Article 6(4) becomes Article 6(3) 
Article 6(4) (new) 
Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 39 of this 
Regulation, the Commission may exempt from the obligations laid down in 
paragraph 1, for a limited, renewable period, certain types of vessel flying 
the flag of, or registered in, a Member State, particularly those whose length 
overall does not exceed 10 metres. 
../.. 
Article 6(6) becomes Article 6(5) 
5. Skippers of fishing vessels must record the data referred to in 
paragraph 1 on paper or in computer-readable form. 
The second subparagraph of Article 7(3) is deleted 
Second subparagraph of Article 7(3) (new) 
Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 39 of this 
Regulation, the Commission may exempt from this obligation, for a limited, 
renewable period, skippers of certain types of vessel, in particular those 
flying the flag of, or registered in, a Member State, and whose length overall 
does not exceed 10 metres. 
First subparagraph of Article 19(3) 
3. Information acquired pursuant to this Article may only be used for the the 
purpose for which it was requested and shall be available on request to 
the owners of the fishing vessels concerned. 
Second subparagraph of Article 21(4) 
If the prejudice suffered by the Member State for which fishing has been 
prohibited before its quota was fished has not been removed by action in 
accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 6(3) of Regulation 
(EEC) No .../.., measures shall be adopted with the aim of remedying in an 
appropriate manner the prejudice caused, in accordance with the procedure 
laid down in Article 39. These measures may involve making deductions 
from the quota, allocation or share of the Member State which has 
overfished, the quantities so deducted to be allocated appropriately to 
the Member States whose fishing activities were halted before their quotas 
were exhausted. These deductions and the consequent allocations shall be 
made taking into account as a matter of priority the species and zones for 
which the annual quotas, allocations or shares were fixed. These 
deductions or allocations may be made during the year in which the 
prejudice occurred or in the succeeding year or years and shall be 
calculated in absolute terms or as a percentage in accordance with__the 
formula most advantageous to the Member State which has suffered the 
prejudice. 
New subparagraph inserted after the second subparagraph 
in point (b) of Article 25(1) 
The method used to calculate the penalty coefficients shall be ' ••?id down by 
the Council, on a proposal from the Commission, at the sama _iipe as _the 
corresponding restrictions on fishing activities. 
.-/-
u 
Article 30(341 
(S&X The Cemmlggionf the comptent authorities in -the Ufegabar gfcates and 
officials and other ace&ts ere obliged not to divulge Information. 
acquired pursuant to thi« Article which j.gr by its n&tar^, covQgsd bv 
professional secrecy , 
Point f») ill Article 31(6) 
(a) Without prejudice to article 169 of the SEC Treaty, in the svent that 
officials authorised by the Commission discover possible iafrlngieasests of 
the Community rules referred to is. Article 1, or failures on the part of 
national dapartaentsto fulfil the obligations imposed on them under 
paragraph 4 of this article, the Coeasdjssion shall inform the Member State 
thereof without delay by means of a report. The Heather State shall take 
all action called for by the report. The Cotftttissioa may make the report 
• *• •mil—.— I—I ' •' ' «III I iffTTIll llll HI 11 iWffW» 
public-
Article 32(3) first, subparagraph (new} 
Member States shall ensure that comparable penalties are imposed for 
comparable offences throughout the Community. 
Article 38 
Before 31 ««roh each year Member states sh&ll transmit to the Commission a 
report on the Application of this Regulation over the previous twelve 'months/ 
containing an assessment of the technical and human resources used and 
measures which may help to alleviate the shortcomings discovered, on the 
basis of the reports submitted by the Member States and its own observations, 
the Commission shall draw up an annual report and shall communicate to each 
Member state the information which concerns it. Having; taken due note of the 
replies from the Member states, the Commission shall publish this report alone; 
with those replies and, where appropriate, proposals for measures to alleviate 
the shortcoming» discovered. 
T-CIU/HB/M 
ISSN 0254-1475 
COM(93) 107 final 
DOCUMENTS 
EN 03 
Catalogue number : CB-CO-93-129-EN-C 
ISBN 92-77-53796-5 
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 
L-2985 Luxembourg