Proposal for a Council Regulation establishing a Community framework for the collection and management of the fisheries data needed to conduct the common fisheries policy
Date: 1999-10-27
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: common fisheries policy, data collection, database, fishery management, statistics

C 376 E/54

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

28.12.1999

Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) establishing a Community framework for the collection and
management of the fisheries data needed to conduct the common fisheries policy

(1999/C 376 E/09)

(Text with EEA relevance)

COM(1999) 541 final (cid:151) 1999/0218(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission on 27 October 1999)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 37 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

(1) Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92 of 20
December 1992 establishing a Community system for
fisheries and aquaculture (1) as last amended by Regu-
regular
lation
assessments by the Scientific, Technical and Economic
Committee for Fisheries (hereinafter referred to as the
STECF) of the situation as regards fishery resources, and
its economic implications;

1181/98 (2),

(EC) No

provides

for

(2) Whereas

of Conduct

the United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organisation’s Code
for Responsible
Fisheries and the Agreement relating to the Conservation
both
and Management of
emphasise
the need to develop research and data
collection with a view to improving scientific knowledge;

Fish Stocks

Straddling

(3) Whereas the Community must take part in the efforts
undertaken in international waters to conserve fishery
resources, notably in accordance with the provisions
adopted by the regional fishery organisations;

(4) Whereas to conduct the scientific evaluations needed for
the common fisheries policy (hereinafter referred to as the
CFP) complete data must be collected on the biology of
the fish stocks, on the fleets and their activities and on
economic and social issues;

(5) Whereas the collection of this specific information should

be coordinated with statistical data;

(6) Whereas priorities must be established at Community
the procedures for data collection and

level, as must

(1) OJ L 389, 31.12.1992, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 164, 9.6.1998, p. 1.

processing within the Community, in order to ensure that
the entire system is consistent and to optimise its cost-
effectiveness by creating a stable multiannual framework;

(7) Whereas,

rather

than basic detailed data,

scientific
analyses primarily require aggregated data obtained by
grouping and processing the detailed data at an appro-
priate level,

(8) Whereas the existing regulations in this area, in particular
Council Regulations (EEC) Nos 3759/92 (3), 2847/93 (4)
and (EC) Nos 685/95 (5) and 779/97 (6) and Commission
(EC) Nos 2090/98 (7), 2091/98 (8)
and
Regulations
include provisions on the collection and
2092/98 (9)
their
management of data relating to fishing vessels,
activities and catches and on price monitoring, all of
which must be taken into account if a comprehensive
system is to be established;

(9) Whereas the existing regulations do not cover all

the
activities for which data should be collected with a view
to complete and reliable scientific analysis; whereas the
regulations currently relate to data on an individual or
level but not data aggregated at the appropriate
global
for scientific evaluation; whereas new provisions
level
must
therefore be introduced to produce multiannual
sets of aggregated data that can be accessed by the appro-
priate authorised users;

(3) Council Regulation (EEC) No 3759/92 of 17 December 1992 on the
common organisation of the market in fishery and aquaculture
products (OJ L 388, 31.12.1992, p. 1).

(4) Council Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 of 12 October 1993 estab-
lishing a control system applicable to the common fisheries policy
(OJ L 261, 20.10.1993, p. 1) as last amended by Regulation (EC) No
2346/98 (OJ L 358, 31.12.1998, p. 5).

(5) Council Regulation (EC) No 685/95 of 27 March 1995 on the
management of the fishing effort relating to certain Community
fishing areas and resources (OJ L 71, 31.3.1995, p. 5).

(6) Council Regulation (EC) No 779/97 of 24 April 1997 introducing
arrangements for the management of fishing effort in the Baltic Sea,
(OJ L 113, 30.4.1997, p. 1).

(7) Commission Regulation (EC) No 2090/98 of 30 September 1998
concerning the fishing vessel register of the Community (OJ L 266,
1.10.1998, p. 36).

(8) Commission Regulation (EC) No 2091/98 of 30 September 1998
concerning the segmentation of the Community fishing fleet and
fishing effort in relation to the multiannual guidance programmes
(OJ L 266, 1.10.1998, p. 36).

(9) Commission Regulation (EC) No 2092/98 of 30 September 1998
concerning the declaration of
fishing effort relating to certain
Community fishing areas and resources (OJ L 266, 1.10.1998, p. 47).

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 376 E/55

(10) Whereas the evaluation of

all

including

situation requires biological data
catches,
covering

the sector’s resources and
to be
economic
collected
discards,
evaluations of available stocks which are independent of
the commercial
the
information on catch capacities and the
collection of
fishing efforts used, and data explaining price formation
and enabling the economic situation of fishing enterprises
and the processing industry to be assessed, as well as job
trends in these sectors;

for a set of

resources,

fisheries

(11) Whereas, while priority must be given to the data strictly
required
extended
programme to improve these evaluations must also be
encouraged;

evaluations,

scientific

for

an

(12) Whereas the scientific community, those working in the
fishing industry and the other groups concerned must be
involved in drawing up the rules on data collection and
management; whereas the appropriate bodies in which to
gather the opinions required are the STECF, set up by
Article 16 of Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92 and the
Advisory Committee on Fisheries (hereinafter referred to
as
set up by Commission Decision No
the ACF),
128/71/EEC (1);

(13) Whereas the Community programmes to collect and
manage fisheries data must be implemented under the
direct responsibility of the Member States; whereas they
must accordingly draw up their national programmes in
line with the Community programmes;

and manage

fisheries data will

(14) Whereas the implementation of the national programmes
require
to collect
these
significant expenditure; whereas
is only fully felt at Community level;
programmes
whereas
there should therefore be provision for a
Community contribution to the Member States’ costs;
whereas this contribution is governed by Decision No
. . . /1999/EC (Decision on assistance for data collection
and studies);

the worth of

(15) Whereas the aggregated data referred to in this Regulation
must be fed into computerised databases so that they are
accessible to authorised users and can be exchanged;
whereas the transmission of specific scientific data is
provided for by international organisations, in particular
the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea
and regional fisheries organisations;

(17) Whereas the conduct of the collection and management
programmes must be regularly evaluated; whereas the
possibility of extending the activities covered should be
examined in the medium term,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

This Regulation establishes a Community framework for the
collection and management of
the data needed to evaluate
the situation as regards fishery resources and the fishing
industry.

The Member States shall be responsible for collecting the data.

Article 2

For the purposes of this Regulation:

(a) (cid:145)multiannual datasets(cid:146) means data measuring the changes in

a parameter over a number of years

(b) (cid:145)aggregated data(cid:146) means the output

resulting from the
processing of data from a group of vessels for a given
period and, where appropriate, for a specific geographic
sector, with a view to obtaining an estimate representative
of the whole.

(c) (cid:145)time-space grid(cid:146) means the combination of a geographical
area cut into equal sectors and a regular time interval.

TITLE I

General principles of data collection and management

Article 3

shall

States

establish multiannual datasets
1. Member
suitable for scientific analysis which incorporate biological
and economic information and comprised of aggregated data.
The methods used shall be stable in time and standardised
across the Community and shall comply with relevant inter-
national provisions.

2. Without prejudice to their current data collection obli-
gations under Community law, and in particular the Regu-
lations
the
Member States shall:

referred to in points 2 and 3 of Article 4,

for

(16) Whereas a procedure should be laid down for adopting
detailed rules
this Regulation,
the application of
especially with a view to specifying the data that must
be collected, as well as rules on the organisation of data
handling and on transmission of the aggregated data and
access thereto;

(a) establish data collection programmes supplementary to
these obligations, or for spheres of activity not covered
by these obligations
and based on sampling where
necessary,

(b) specify the procedures that will produce aggregated data,

(1) Commission Decision of 25 February 1971 setting up an Advisory
Committee on Fisheries (OJ L 68, 22.3.1971, p. 18) as last amended
by Decision 1999/478/EC (OJ L 187, 20.7.1999, p. 70).

(c) ensure that the data used to produce aggregated data will

remain available for any recalculations.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

28.12.1999

Article 4

The Member States shall collect data:

1. making it possible to discover or estimate the total volume
of catches per stock, including discards where appropriate
and, where necessary, to classify these catches by vessel
group, geographic area and time period. The catches shall
be subject to biological sampling. In addition, the Member
States shall undertake scientific research at sea to evaluate
the abundance and distribution of stocks independently of
the data provided by the commercial fisheries in the case of
stocks for which such evaluations are possible and useful;

2. needed to evaluate changes

the various

fishing fleets. To this

in fishing power and the
end,
activities of
summaries
shall be prepared using the data collected
under Council Regulations (EEC) No 2847/93 and (EC)
Nos 685/95 and 779/97 and Commission Regulations
(EC) Nos 2090/98, 2091/98 and 2092/98 and additional
information shall be collected by the Member States, as
needed;

3. that allow the prices associated with the various catches,
and their formation, to be monitored. The data collected
under Regulation (EEC) No 3759/92 shall be grouped and
summarised. Additional data shall be collected to reflect all
landings at ports inside and outside the Community, as well
as imports;

in

contained

the minimum programme,
information
information likely to improve
evaluations
substantially. The programmes shall be drawn up for six-year
periods, the first of which shall cover the years 2000 to 2005
inclusive.

scientific

the

Both the minimum and extended programmes

2.
specify, in particular:

shall

(a) the headings covered, i.e.:

(cid:151) a list of the stocks involved,

(cid:151) the zones and resources to be covered by the scientific
research at sea mentioned in point 1 of Article 4,

(cid:151) the parameters to be taken into account for monitoring

changes in fishing power,

(cid:151) the fish species whose prices at unloading must be
monitored, and any separation of a species
into
commercial categories,

(cid:151) the accounting headings or groups of headings that are
relevant for the economic monitoring of fishing enter-
prises and the processing industry,

(cid:151) the type of jobs that should be monitored.

4. needed to evaluate the economic state of the industry:

(b) the level of aggregation of the information collected:

(a) as regards the fishing fleets:

(cid:151) the income from sales and other revenue (subsidies,

interest received, etc.)

(cid:151) the production costs

(cid:151) data enabling the jobs at sea to be classified.

(b) as regards the fish processing industry:

(cid:151) production expressed in volume and value terms for

product categories to be determined

(cid:151) the number of enterprises, and the number of jobs

(cid:151) changes in production costs, and their composition.

TITLE II

Procedure for establishing the content of Community and
national programmes

Article 5

1.
In accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 18
of Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92, the Commission shall define a
minimum Community programme covering the information
absolutely needed for scientific evaluations, and an extended
Community programme that shall include, in addition to the

(cid:151) the time-space grids, defining the size of the reference

sectors and the time intervals to be used,

(cid:151) identification of the groups of vessels and/or ports, as
well as the sectors of the fish processing industry; the
vessel groups shall correspond to the subsegments of
the Multiannual Guidance Programmes (MGPs) and be
consistent across headings.

(c) where appropriate, the objectives quantified in terms of the
precision of the evaluation or the intensity of the sampling
programmes.

Article 6

1.
Each Member State shall draw up for six-year periods and
for the first time for the years 2000 to 2005 inclusive, a
national programme of collection and management of data.
The programme shall describe both the collection of
the
detailed data and the processing needed to produce aggregated
data in accordance with the principles set out in Article 3. It
specify the links between it and the Community
shall
programmes drawn up under Article 5.

2.
Each Member State shall guarantee the reliability and
stability of the data collection and processing procedures. It
shall provide the Commission with the information needed to
evaluate the means employed and the effectiveness of
the
procedures. Where they exist, appropriate international or
European definitions and classification systems shall be used
to collect and analyse the data.

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Each Member State shall as far as possible include in its
3.
national programme the elements relating to it under the
minimum Community programme as defined in Article 5.

to

the minimum Community

4. Member States may apply to the Community for financial
assistance for those parts of their national programmes that
programme.
correspond
Community financial assistance may also be sought
for
additional elements of the national programme corresponding
to the extended Community programme, provided that the
provisions concerning the minimum programme have been
fully met.

The Community financial assistance shall be decided in
accordance with the detailed rules laid down in Decision No
for data
. . .
collection and studies).

/1999/EC (Decision on financial assistance

Article 7

the aggregated data
1. Member States shall ensure that
relating to Community programmes are fed into computerised
databases.

2.
The data covered by this Regulation may be sent by the
Member States to the competent international organisations, in
accordance with their specific rules and the provisions adopted
under Article 8(2)(b). The Commission shall be informed of any
data transmissions and shall receive an electronic copy of the
data, should it request one.

3.
to all
The Commission shall have computer access
aggregated data relating to the Community programmes and
may make the data available to the STECF.

Data transmitted or collected in whatever form under this
4.
Regulation shall be covered by professional secrecy and shall
qualify for the same protection as that granted to similar data
by the national legislation of the Member States who receive
them, and by the corresponding provisions applying to the
Community institutions.

TITLE III

Final provisions

Article 8

1.
Detailed rules for the application of this Regulation shall
be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in
Article 18 of Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92.

The detailed rules of application shall

2.
particular:

concern in

(a) the programmes referred to in Article 5(1);

(b) the organisation of data handling:

(cid:151) the

for

criteria

and the
minimum standards needed to ensure authorised users
have access to the data,

interrogating databases

(cid:151) the data that will be, where appropriate, grouped under

the Commission’s direct responsibility,

(cid:151) the

provisions

guaranteeing

confidentiality

in

accordance with Article 7(4).

the programmes
3. Without prejudice to paragraph 1,
referred to in Article 5(1) shall be adopted after the STECF
and the ACF have been consulted.

Article 9

The Commission, in association with the STECF and the
1.
ACF, shall annually examine the progress of
the national
programmes in the Management Committee for Fisheries and
Aquaculture.

On the basis of information supplied by the Member
2.
States, and having consulted the STECF,
the Commission
shall present to the European Parliament and the Council, at
three-yearly intervals and for the first time by 31 December
2002, a report evaluating the measures taken by each Member
State, the appropriateness of the methods used and the results
achieved as
the data collection and management
referred to in this Regulation.

regards

it

By 31 December 2002 the Commission shall review
3.
is appropriate to extend the range of data
whether
collected under
this Regulation. To this end the Member
States and the Commission may undertake studies and
exploratory projects in areas that are significant for the CFP
yet not covered by Article 4,
in particular aquaculture, the
relationship of fisheries’ and aquaculture with the environment
and the capacity of fishing and aquaculture industries to create
jobs. These studies and projects may receive Community
financial assistance in accordance with the detailed rules laid
down in Decision No . . .
/1999/EC (Decision on financial
assistance for data collection and studies).

On the basis of the report and analyses provided for in
4.
paragraphs 2 and 3, and taking account of the changing needs
of the CFP, the Commission shall decide, by 31 December
2002, whether an amendment to this Regulation is needed.

Article 10

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

(cid:151) the rules on data transmission,

including the trans-
mission of scientific data to international organisations,

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