Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION concerning the objectives and detailed rules for restructuring the fisheries sector in Sweden an Finland over the period 1 January 1995 to 31 December 1996 with a view to achieving a lasting balance between resources and their exploitation
Date: 1995-05-23
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Community fisheries, Finland, Sweden, exploitation of resources, fishing fleet, production capacity

COMMISSION  OF THE EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES 

Brussels,  23.05.1995 
COM(95)198 filial 

95/0102  (CNS) 

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 

(presented by the Commission) 

Explanatory Memorandum 

1. A  general regime to contain fh/ting  effort 

The muUiannual  guidance programmes (MGP) were adopted in application  of  article  11 of 
Council  Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92 of 20 December  1992 on the restructuring of the 
fisheries  sector. 

These programmes specify  reductions  in fishing  effort  of 20%,  15% and 0% respectively 
on demersal, benthic  and pelagic stocks  in order to bring the sizes of the Community 
fleets to levels  compatible  with those of the resources.  To this effect,  at least 55% of the 
reduction  in effort  in effort  will  be achieved by  a reduction in fishing  capacity. 

These results will  be obtained over the period  1992/96 for the  11 Member States that 
have  a coastline, out of the  12 in the European Union before the entry of  Finland and 
Sweden. 

2. Entry of Finland and Sweden into the  Union. 

The entry  of  Sweden and Finland into the European Union on  1 January  1995  significantly 
increases the European  fleet  and makes it necessary to include the fleets  of these new 
Member States according to the same principles as those adopted for all  the other Member 
States by  applying the concept of  the Community "acquis". 

5. Adaptation oftJte general regime to Sweden and Finland. 

The application  to the new Member States of the general  regime to contain fishing  effort 
is justified  because of the analogous situation  of the stocks in the Baltic  Sea and that 
existing  elsewhere. 

The regime can and must nevertheless be adapted to the particular circumstances of the 
new Member States, in particular to the fact that its provisions  will  apply  to  Sweden and 
Finland for only two years instead of five. 

The proposal  of  the Commission therefore  aims to apply the general provisions  of the 
MGP to  contain fishing  effort,  adapting them  according to the duration of  their application 
to  Sweden  and Finland, that is between the date of entry of  1 January  1995  and the end of 
the programmes, that is 31 December  1996. 

Proposai  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 

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  Commission1, 

Having  regard  to  the  opinion  of  the  European  Parliament2, 

Whereas  Council  Regulation  (EEC)  No  3760/92  of  20  December  1992  establishing  a 

Community  system  for  fisheries  and  aquaculture3,  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; 

1 
2 
3 

OJ  No  C 
Opinion  delivered  on 
OJ  No  L  389,  31.12.1992,  p.  1. 

Abe* 

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  exploitation4; 

whereas  this  Decision  lays  down,  for  each  type  of  fishery,  five-year  objectives  for  the 

reduction  of  fishing  effort  over  the  period  1992-96  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  1993-96; 

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: 

OJ  No  L  10,  14.1.1994,  p.  20. 

Article  1 

1. 

By  31  December  1996  at  the  latest,  the  fishing  effort  of  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  1993s. 

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. 

OJ  N oL  346,  31.12.1993,  p. 1 

Article 4 

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

Done  at Brussels, 

For the Council 

The President 

ISSN  0254-1475 

COM(95) 198 final 

DOCUMENTS 

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Catalogue number  : CB-CO-95-225-EN-C 

ISBN 92-77-89099-1 

Office for Official  Publications of the European Communities 

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