Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) amending Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92 establishing a Community system for fisheries and aquaculture
Date: 1996-09-18
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Community fisheries, aquaculture, authorised catch, catch quota, fishery management

COMMISSION  OF THE  EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES 

Brussels,  18.09.1996 
COM(96) 350 final 

96/0183  (CNS) 

Proposal  for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) 

amending Regulation (EEC) No  3760/92 
establishing  a Community  system for fisheries  and aquaculture 

(presented by the Commission) 

EXPLANATORY  MEMORANDUM 

Council  Regulation  (EEC) N°  3760/92 of  20 December  1992 establishing  a Community 
system for fisheries  and aquaculture1  lays down that in order to  ensure the rational  and 
responsible exploitation  of  resources on a sustainable basis Community  measures are to 
be established  laying  down  the  conditions  of  access to  waters  and resources  and of the 
pursuit  of  exploitation  activities  relating  to  those  resources.  Under  Article  4  of  the 
Regulation,  it is  for  the  Council  to  establish  those  measures.  They  apply  to  waters and 
resources  in  which  Community  vessels  pursue  their  activities,  particularly  the  waters 
subject  to  regulations  laid  down  by  international  fishery  organizations  to  which  the 
Community  is  a contracting  party.  It  should  be  pointed  out,  in  this  context,  that these 
bodies  adopt  measures  of  a technical  nature  which  become  binding  on  the  contracting 
parties. 

The  European  Community,  as  a  contracting  party  to  certain  of  these  international 
organizations, is required to ensure that the measures of a binding nature adopted by these 
organizations apply to its fishermen  with effect  from the dates fixed.  It therefore appears 
justified  to  introduce  into  the  stated  provision  of  Regulation  (EEC)  N°  3760/92  a 
mechanism  allowing  the Community  to adopt such  measures as the need arises. To this 
end, provision should be made in the aforementioned Article 4 for powers to be conferred 
on the Commission for incorporating in the Community  legal order binding acts adopted 
within  the  framework  of  these  international  organizations.  These  powers  are  to  be 
exercised  in  accordance  with  the  procedure  laid  down  in  Article  18 of  Regulation  N° 
3760/92 which provides for the opinion of the Management Committee for Fisheries and 
Aquaculture. 

Furthermore,  Article  8(2)  of  Regulation  (EEC)  N°  3760/92  lays  down  that the Council 
is to  restrict,  as far as Commission  fishing  vessels  are concerned,  the exploitation  rate 
in a fishery  in Community  fishing  waters or outside those waters. No provision  is made, 
however,  for  exercising  such  powers  in  respect  of  vessels  flying  the  flag  of  a  third 
country  authorized to pursue their activities  in Community  waters. 

The  same  situation  applied,  as  regards  third  country  vessels,  as  far  as  the  technical 
conditions  are concerned  under which the catches of  such vessels have to be made. 

It  is  consequently  necessary  to  introduce  a specific  legal  basis  by  means  of  amending 
paragraph 2 of Article 8 and inserting a specific  provision  in paragraph 4 of that Article. 

OJN°  L  389,31.12.1992. 

Regulation  (EEC)  N°  3760/92  also  lays  down  in  its  Article  8(4)  that  the  Council  is to 
determine  for  each  fishery  or  group  of  fisheries,  on  a  case-by-case  basis,  the  total 
allowable catch. It is as a general  rule on a yearly basis that the Council  determines these 
fishing  opportunities.The  regulations  concerned  set,  in  respect  of  each  fishing  year, the 
total  allowable  catches available to the Community  and the quotas allocated to Member 
States.  The  provisions  established  by  the  Council  in  this  respect  include  technical 
conservation  measures  which  are  closely  associated  with  the  determination  of  fishing 
opportunities  under the total  allowable  catches and quotas.  Provision  was not  made in 
Article  8(4) for the exercise of powers with regard to the laying down of those technical 
measures. It is therefore  necessary  to amend point (i) of that paragraph and include  in it 
a reference  to technical  measures of  a temporary  nature or which  are  purely  incidental 
to the measures for allocating  resources  laid down  by the Council. 

Proposal  for a  (EC) Council  Regulation  amending Regulation  (EEC) No  3760/92 
establishing  a Community  system  for fisheries  and aquaculture 

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 Commisson1, 

Having  regard to the opinion of  the European Parliament2, 

Having regard to the opinion  of the Economic  and Social  Committee3, 

Whereas  Article  4  of  Council  Regulation  (EEC)  No  3760/92  of  20  December  1992 
establishing  a Community  system  for  fisheries  and aquaculture4,  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, 

1 OJ No C 

2 OJ No C 

3 OJ No C 

4O J N o L 3 8 9,  31.12.1992,  p. 1. 

HAS  ADOPTED  THIS  REGULATION: 

Article 1 

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

1. 

The  following  paragraph  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  multi-annual  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  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. 

Done  at 

For  the  Council 

k 

ESN 0254-1475 

COM(96) 350  final 

DOCUMENTS 

EN 

03 

Catalogue number  : CB-C0-96-348-EN-C 

ISBN 92-78-06665-6 

Office  for Official  Publications of the European Communities 

L-2985  Luxembourg 

b