Proposal for a Council Decision concerning the objectives and detailed rules for restructuring the fisheries sector in Sweden and Finland over the period 1 January 1995 to 31 December 1996 with a view to achieving a lasting balance between resources and their exploitation

(95/C 171/04)

COM(95) 198 final - 95/0102(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission on 24 May 1995)

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,

Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92 of 20 December 1992 establishing a Community system for fisheries and acquaculture (1), and in particular Article 11 thereof, lays down provisions aiming to ensure that the Community fisheries sector is restructured so as to take account of the available and accessible resources, taking into account the characteristics of each fishery as well as the possible economic and social consequences; whereas it is therefore appropriate that the aims and procedures to restructure the Community fishing fleet should be set for each fishery or group of fisheries;

Whereas, on the basis of a disquieting official report on the state of the resources accessible to Community vessels, the Council agreed that it was necessary to ensure a limitation of the fishing effort of the various segments of the Community fleets by a concerted programme of action, fairly balanced between the various Member States but also differentiated according to fishery;

Whereas on the basis of this official report the Council adopted Decision 94/15/EC of 20 December 1993 relating to the objectives and detailed rules for restructuring the Community fisheries sector over the period 1 January 1994 to 31 December 1996 with a view to achieving a lasting balance between the resources and their exploitation (2); whereas this Decision lays down, for each type of fishery, five-year objectives for the reduction of fishing effort over the period 1992 to 1996 of 20 %, 15 % and 0 % for demersal, benthic and pelagic fisheries respectively, and lays down the detailed rules for the implementation of these objectives within the framework of the multiannual guidance programmes for 1993 to 1996;

Whereas medium and long-term biological analyses of the state of resources in the Baltic Sea show that there is no need to adopt a different approach to this maritime region than that adopted by the Council for the main types of fisheries, and that those guidelines should therefore be applied to the Swedish and Finnish fleets from the date of accession of those countries;

Whereas, however, such application must take account of the fact that only two years remain between the date of accession and the expiry date of the programmes;

Whereas the objectives adopted in this Decision do not prejudge any provisions which may be implemented under technical measures aiming to reduce fishing mortality due to fleets using passive gears,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

1. By 31 December 1996 at the latest, the fishing effort to the fleets of Sweden and Finland, must have decreased by at least:

- 8 % for trawlers bottom-trawling for demersal stocks,

- 6 % for dredgers and beam trawlers targeting benthic stocks,

- 0 % i.e. no growth, for the other fleet segments,

as compared with the estimated situation of the fleet on 1 January 1995.

2. At least 55 % of the effort reductions referred to in paragraph 1 must be purely by capacity reductions.

Article 2

The implementation of the objectives and procedures referred to in Article 1 shall be ensured by the Commission, which shall, within three months of the adoption of this Decision, adopt a multiannual guidance programme for both Sweden and Finland for the period running from 1 January 1995 to 31 December 1996 in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 5 (2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 3699/93 of 31 December 1993 (1).

The Commission shall take care, as far as possible, to apply the general provisions of the multiannual guidance programmes to the fleets of Sweden and Finland, and particularly the segmentation principles and formulae for the calculation of the objectives.

Article 3

Articles 3 and 4 of Council Decision 94/15/EC of 20 December 1993 shall apply to Sweden and Finland.

Article 4

This Decision is addressed to the Kingdom of Sweden and the Republic of Finland.

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

(2) OJ No L 10, 14. 1. 1994, p. 20.

(1) OJ No L 346, 31. 12. 1993, p. 1.