Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) amending Regulation (EEC) No 2930/86 defining the characteristics of fishing vessels (94/C 160/09) (Text with EEA relevance) COM(94) 182 final - 94/0129(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission on 20 May 1994)

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 reference is made to the characteristics of fishing vessels in the common fisheries policy, requiring uniform definitions of vessel characteristics; whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 2930/86 of 22 September 1986 defining the characteristics of fishing vessels (1) was adopted for this purpose;

Whereas Community action in this field should where possible be based on initiatives already taken by specialist international organizations;

Whereas the need for a standardized international system of tonnage measurement of ships was recognized because of widely differing tonnages for individual ships of the same length; whereas, in view of this the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships was signed in London on 23 June 1969 (ICTM 1969) under the aegis of the International Maritime Organization (IMO);

Whereas this Convention defined gross tonnage as a function of the total volume of all enclosed spaces of a ship; whereas the methodology for the measurement of gross tonnage is laid down in Annex 1 of the aforementioned Convention;

Whereas the aforementioned Convention applies from 18 July 1994 to all non-exempted ships, including fishing vessels, of 24 metres or more in length engaging in international voyages; whereas, ships of less than 24 metres in length are inter alia exempted from the Convention;

Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 2930/86 extended the provisions of Annex 1 of the aforementioned Convention to Community fishing vessels from 18 July 1994;

Whereas Member States have experienced certain difficulties in fully implementing the tonnage provisions of this Regulation, particularly in relation to smaller fishing vessels; whereas, for these smaller vessels the methodology laid down in Annex 1 of the aforementioned 1969 Convention is in certain cases inappropriate;

Whereas for vessels less than 10 metres in length therefore a simpler definition of gross tonnage is appropriate;

Whereas vessels equal to or greater than 10 metres in length should be measured in accordance with the aforementioned 1969 Convention in view of the greater importance of superstructure volume of these vessels;

Whereas a postponement to the deadline of 18 July 1994 for remeasuring existing vessels equal to or greater than 10 metres and less than 24 metres in length is necessary because of the technical demands involved in measuring vessels in accordance with the methodology of ICTM 1969,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Article 4 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2930/86 is hereby replaced by the following:

'1. (a) The tonnage of a fishing vessel shall be gross tonnage as specified in Annex 1 to the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships signed in London on 23 June 1969 hereafter referred to as "the 1969 Convention".

(b) The gross tonnage of all new fishing vessels with an overall length equal to or greater than 10 metres and the keel of which is laid on or after 18 July 1994 shall be measured in accordance with Annex 1 to the 1969 Convention.

(c) The gross tonnage of new and existing fishing vessels with an overall length of less than 10 metres shall be measured in accordance with the formula presented in Annex I to this Regulation.

(d) The gross tonnage of all existing vessels equal to or greater than 24 metres in overall length shall be measured in accordance with Annex 1 to the 1969 Convention.

(e) Subject to the second and third paragraphs below, the gross tonnage of existing vessels with an overall length equal to or greater than 10 metres and less than 24 metres may be estimated in accordance with the methodology presented in Annex I to this Regulation in circumstances where the Commission considers these values to be sufficiently accurate.

Member States shall however measure tonnage of vessels in this category in accordance with Annex 1 to the 1969 Convention in the following circumstances:

- on the request of the vessel owner,

- on application by a vessel owner to participate in any scheme where public financial aid is payable,

- where vessel owners undertake alterations or modifications which the competent authority of the Member State deems to be a substantial variation to the existing gross tonnage.

Member States shall ensure that all remaining vessels in this category shall be remeasured before 18 July 2006 in accordance with Annex 1 to the 1969 Convention.`

Article 2

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

It shall apply from 1 January 1995 except for Article 1 (d) which shall apply from 18 July 1994.

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

(1) OJ No L 274, 25. 9. 1986, p. 1.

ANNEX I

The gross tonnage of fishing vessels will, for vessels of overall length less than 10 metres, be measured, and for existing vessels of overall length equal to or greater than 10 metres and less than 24 metres be estimated, according to the formula

GT = K1.V (as defined by ICTM 1969)

where K1 = 0.2 + 0.02 log 10 V

and V is the total enclosed volume, estimated as

V = a (Loa . Bi . Ti)

where:

Loa = length overall (Article 2 of Regulation (EEC) No 2930/86)

Bi = breadth according to the Oslo Convention

Ti = tonnage depth according to the Oslo Convention

a = a function of Loa, Bi, Ti and vessel age, to be agreed by the Commission on the basis of statistical analyses of representative samples of the fleet undertaken by the Member States.