Proposal for a Council Decision on a financial contribution by the Community to certain expenditure incurred by the Member States in implementing the control, inspection and surveillance systems applicable to the common fisheries policy
Date: 2000-10-27
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: common fisheries policy, fishing controls, fishing vessel, maritime surveillance, shareholding

C 62 E/276

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

27.2.2001

Proposal for a Council Decision on a financial contribution by the Community to certain expen-
diture incurred by the Member States in implementing the control, inspection and surveillance
systems applicable to the common fisheries policy

(2001/C 62 E/18)

(Text with EEA relevance)

COM(2000) 684 final (cid:16) 2000/0273(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission on 27 October 2000)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

expenditure should therefore be reduced in order
permit more active assistance in other areas.

to

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,

Whereas:

(1) The common fisheries policy, which guarantees
of

the
their
in the sector, can achieve its objectives
rules are complied with and effectively

long-term existence
employment
its
only if
controlled.

fishery

stocks

and

(2) Those objectives and rules are primarily established by
Council Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92 of 20 December
1992 establishing a Community system for fisheries and
aquaculture (1), and by Council Regulation (EEC) No
2847/93 of 12 October 1993 establishing a control
system applicable to the common fisheries policy (2).

(3) By implementing the control system applicable to the
the Member States discharge

common fisheries policy,
an obligation of Community interest.

(4) For some Member States the scale of the control task is
and may be disproportionately

particularly onerous
burdensome.

(5) The Community should therefore make a financial
contribution towards certain control,
inspection and
surveillance expenditure incurred by some Member States.

(6) Given the positive overall

contribution

the Community
financial
Decision
89/631/EEC (3) for 1991 to 1995, and Council Decision
95/527/EC (4) for 1996 to 2000, a follow-on to those
Decisions is required, but not a simple renewal. Certain

impact of
under

Council

(1) OJ L 389, 31.12.1992, p. 1, Regulation as last amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 1181/98 (OJ L 164, 9.6.1998, p. 1).

(2) OJ L 261, 20.10.1993, p. 1, Regulation as last amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 2846/98 (OJ L 358, 31.12.1998, p. 5).

(3) OJ L 364, 14.12.1989, p. 64, Decision as last amended by Decision

95/52/EC (OJ L 301, 14.12.1995, p. 35).

(4) OJ L 301, 14.12.1995, p. 30.

(7) A period of three years, from 2001 to 2003, allows the
Community contribution to be set for a long enough
period but without prejudging any modifications of the
common policy that may be decided under Article 14 of
Council Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92.

(8) The corresponding financial resources should be entered
as annual appropriations in the general budget of the
European Communities.

(9) The financial contribution by the Community should be
conditional on the recipient Member State attaining a
satisfactory standard of control both at sea and on land.

(10) Recipient Member States should assess the objectives and
the impact of their expenditure on control programmes,
both annually and in the aggregate at the end of the
three-year period (2001-2003),

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

Under the conditions set out in this Decision, the Community
may grant a financial contribution to control programmes
established by the Member States’ for implementation of the
control, inspection and surveillance systems applicable to the
common fisheries policy laid down in Council Regulation (EEC)
No 2847/93.

The control programmes shall specify their objectives and the
facilities
in
particular for the action referred to in Article 2.

to be deployed and expenditure

envisaged,

Article 2

The financial contribution provided for in Article 1 (here-
inafter: ?the financial contribution@) may be granted in respect
of certain expenditure foreseen in the control programmes and
intended to contribute to the following actions:

(a) creation of the mechanisms and IT networks necessary for

information exchange in connection with control;

27.2.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 62 E/277

(b) experimentation with and implementation of new tech-

nologies to improve control of fishery activities;

mentation with and the introduction of new technologies to
improve controls on fishing and related activities.

(c) training of control departments’ officials;

(d) implementation of new inspection and observer schedules
in the framework of Regional Fishery Organisations (RFOs)
to which the European Community is a contracting party;

(e) acquisition and modernisation of

inspection and moni-

toring equipment.

Under points (a), (b), (d) and (e), the financial contribution shall
be
than
EUR 13 200.

limited to expenditure of

an amount greater

The annual financial contribution per Member State shall

2.
be, at most, 50 % of eligible expenditure.

than that provided for

The Commission may decide on a rate of contribution
3.
in paragraph 2 to enable
higher
financial contributions
towards eligible expenditure, where
necessary, extending the VMS provided for in Article 3 of
Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 to include vessels other than
those
and towards
recording information other than vessel position and installing
electronic logbooks.

referred to in Article 3(2)

thereof,

Article 3

commitments

The expenditure referred to in Article 2 arising from legal and
financial
entered into by Member States’
competent authorities during the period of application of this
Decision in respect of which no other financial aid is received
from the Community, shall be regarded as eligible. VAT shall
not be regarded as eligible expenditure.

Article 7

1.
Financial contributions towards the expenditure referred
to in Article 2(c) shall cover, in accordance with the rules in
Annex I, eligible expenditure on the training of national
including training in
officials involved in conrol activities,
Member States other
than the one in which they work,
arising from the organisation of seminars or training courses
of at least one day and from exchanges of national officials.

Expenditure shall be eligible to the extent to which it is actually
used to implement the control programmes.

The annual financial contribution per Member State shall

2.
be, at most, 50 % of eligible expenditure.

Article 4

Article 8

1.
The financial contribution shall relate to eligible expen-
diture effected by Member States between 1 January 2001 and
31 December 2003.

The Budgetary Authority shall set

2.
the appropriations
available for each budget year. The financial contribution
shall not exceed the appropriations allocated to this purpose
in the general budget of the European Communities.

3.
If appropriations available in the general budget of the
European Communities do not permit a financial contribution
to all eligible expenditure proposed by a Member State, priority
shall be given to expenditure on the control measures provided
for in the Community rules.

Article 5

1.
Financial contributions towards the expenditure referred
to in Article 2(a) shall cover eligible expenditure for the
creation of systems for recording, managing and transmitting
data relating to controls, including IT applications and software.

The annual financial contribution per Member State shall

2.
be, at most, 75 % of eligible expenditure.

1.
Financial contributions towards the expenditure referred
to in Article 2(d) shall cover eligible expenditure on the intro-
duction of new inspection and observer schedules adopted in
to which the Community is a
the framework of RFOs
contracting party, including operating expenditure.

The annual financial contribution per Member State shall

2.
be, at most, 50 % of eligible expenditure.

Article 9

1.
Financial contributions towards the expenditure referred
to in Article 2(e) shall cover investment in the acquisition or
modernisation of vessels
control,
inspection and surveillance of fishery activities.

and aircraft used for

The annual financial contribution per Member State shall

2.
be, at most, 30 % of eligible expenditure.

3.
The Commission may decide on a rate of contribution
higher than that provided for in paragraph 2, of up to 50 % of
eligible expenditure, in the following cases:

Article 6

1.
Financial contributions towards the expenditure referred
to in Article 2(b) shall cover eligible expenditure for experi-

(a) to Member States which have an Extensive Exclusive
Economic Zone or Continental shelf to control and prove
that resources available for that purpose do not permit
sufficiently effective control;

C 62 E/278

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

27.2.2001

(b) to Member States which assign control resources each year,
during the period 2001-2003, to the regulatory zone of an
RFO to which the European Community is a contracting
party, in which vessels flying their flag operate.

Detailed rules for the application of point
the first
subparagraph shall be adopted by the Commission in consul-
tation with the Member State(s) concerned.

(b) of

Article 10

A special
financial contribution of up to 50 % of eligible
expenditure per Member State per year may be granted for
implementing a system to assess expenditure incurred in
controlling the common fisheries policy. This contribution
shall be granted towards eligible expenditure on introducing
and operating the system,
including developing analytical
accounting procedures permitting calculation of the cost of
various control measures carried out by the competent auth-
orities of the Member States.

Article 11

The annual budget allocation for action towards which a
financial contribution of more than 50 % is paid shall be
restricted to 20 % of the budget envelope.

Article 12

1. Member States wishing to receive a financial contribution
shall send the Commission, by 31 March 2001 at the latest, a
forecast programme of
their annual expenditure for 2001,
2002 and 2003 for which they are seeking a financial
contribution,
three-year programme
by
describing the controls they intend to carry out during the
three-year period.

accompanied

a

The control programme must describe the objectives of the
control and inspection measures scheduled, the actual oper-
ational plan envisaged and the results anticipated, and must
cover the full range of fishery control work relevant to the
Member State.

Programmes received after 31 March 2001 shall be considered
only in exceptional circumstances,
justified by the Member
States concerned.

The programmes shall include the details specified in Part

2.
A of Annex II, points 1 and 2.

Article 13

On the basis of the information provided by Member States,
and with due regard to the criteria in point 3 of Part A of
Annex II, the Commission shall decide before 30 June each
year in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
18 of Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92 on:

Article 14

At

the

reasoned request of

1.
the
Commission may grant advances of up to 50% of the annual
financial contribution. These shall be deducted from the final
the financial contribution towards the eligible
amount of
expenditure actually incurred.

a Member State

2. Member States’ expenditure shall be committed both
legally and financially within one year of the date of notifi-
cation of the decision referred to in Article 13. Member States
shall implement their scheduled expenditure within one year of
this legal and financial commitment. If the legal and financial
is not made within the time specified, any
commitment
advance granted shall be repaid forthwith.

Article 15

Where a Member State decides not to implement all or part of
the eligible expenditure for which a financial contribution has
been granted it shall
immediately inform the Commission,
stating the implications for its control programme.

Article 16

1. Member States shall submit their applications for reim-
bursement of expenditure by 31 May of the year following the
year in which it was incurred at the latest.

for

submitting

applications

2. When
reimbursement
Member States shall verify and certify that the expenditure
has been incurred in compliance with the conditions laid
down in this Decision and the Directives concerning the coor-
dination of procedures for the award of public works, supply
and service contracts, and in accordance with the detailed rules
in point 4 of Part A of Annex II.

If

it appears from the application that the conditions
3.
referred to in pararaph 2 have not been met, the Commission
shall examine the situation thoroughly, requesting the Member
State to submit its observations. If the examination confirms
non-compliance, the Commission shall set a time-limit for the
Member State to comply. If by the expiry of that time-limit the
Member State has not acted in accordance with the recommen-
dations, the Commission may reduce, suspend or cancel the
financial contribution in the area concerned. All undue
shall be reimbursed to the Commission with
payments
interest for the period in question.

4. Member States shall keep all supporting documentation
for a period of three years from the date of the Commission’s
reimbursement of the expenditure.

(a) the eligibility of the expenditure scheduled for the current

budget year;

Article 17

(b) the rate of the financial contribution;

(c) any conditions applying to the financial contribution.

Member States shall submit their expenditure programmes and
applications for reimbursement of expenditure and payment of
advances in euro. Expenditure programmes not made out in
euro shall not be admissible.

27.2.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 62 E/279

Member States not participating in the third stage of economic
and monetary union shall specify the conversion rate used.

The first paragraph shall apply without prejudice to Article 29
of Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93.

Article 18

shall provide the Commission with any
Member States
information it may request with a view to performing the
tasks attributed to it by this Decision.

shall provide

to verify the use made of

the Commission with all
Member States
the
information permitting it
control,
inspection and surveillance resources for which a
financial contribution has been made under this Decision.
They shall keep this information available to the Commission
for at least three years from the date of the Commission’s
reimbursement of expenditure.

it shall

If the Commission considers that these resources are not being
used for their proper purpose or in accordance with the
inform the
conditions laid down in this Decision,
Member State concerned, which shall conduct an adminis-
trative inquiry in which Commission officials may take part.
The Member State shall inform the Commission of its progress
and of the findings of that inquiry and send it without delay a
copy of the report drawn up following the inquiry, notifying
the main elements on which it is based. The Commission may
decide to reclaim any sum unduly paid, with interest for the
period in question.

Article 19

The Commission may make any checks it deems necessary to
ensure that Member States comply with the conditions and
execute the tasks specified in this Decision. Member States
shall
the
Commission.

assigned to these

assist officials

checks by

Article 20

1. Member States shall send the Commission, before 30
April each year, an intermediate assessment
report, with
contents as specified in Annex III, covering the previous
year’s eligible expenditure, detailing the extent to which the
anticipated progress has been made and the impact of the
expenditure on the control programmes and reporting any
need to adjust those programmes.

2. Member States shall send the Commission, by 31 May
2004 at the latest, a final assessment report, with contents as
specified in Annex III, covering the impact of the financial
contribution on the three-year control programme as a whole.

3.
The information referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 must
enable the Commission to monitor properly the use made of
the financial contribution.

Article 21

On the basis of the information provided by the Member States
under Article 20(1),
to the
European Parliament and to the Council, by 31 December
2003 at the latest, a report on application of this Decision
and make any appropriate proposals for further action.

the Commission shall submit

Article 22

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

ANNEX I

RULES APPLYING TO EXPENDITURE ON TRAINING OFFICIALS ENGAGED IN INSPECTION WORK

1. Expenditure on organising courses and seminars should in particular cover the hire of a room, purchase or hire of
teaching materials and equipment, payment of the fees of trainers who are not officials of a national or Community
administration, and travel and subsistence costs of the participating national officials and the trainers.

2. Expenditure on exchanges of national officials should cover their travel and subsistence costs.

3. Travel costs should be those for a return journey between an official’s home and the destination by public transport.

4. Subsistence costs should be those for accommodation, meals and local transport.

5. Travel and subsistence costs are to be determined according to national reimbursement rules.

C 62 E/280

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

27.2.2001

ANNEX II

Part A

1. The programme of annual expenditure referred to in Article 12 should state the expenditure scheduled for the years

2001, 2002 and 2003, specifying in particular:

G the expenditure timetable;

G the nature, cost and inspection objectives of the new technologies and IT networks;

G the nature, duration, number of participants, cost and purposes of the training for inspection officials;

G for inspection and monitoring equipment: technical characteristics, cost, planned mode of payment, inspection

objectives and planned utilisation, including date of entry into service.

2. Member States must send the Commission all relevant information on the following:

G the objectives pursued by the proposed expenditure;

G the results expected from this expenditure;

G in connection with the purchase and modernisation of vessels and aircraft, an estimate of the period of time for

which these will be used for fishery inspection and surveillance work;

G the Member State’s use over previous years of the contribution granted under Decision 95/527/EC;

G the improvement in the effectiveness of the controls at sea and on land carried out by the Member State during
the period preceding the application and the improvement that should result from the proposed expenditure.

Member States shall also complete and send to the Commission the forms, of which models are given in Part B.

3. Criteria to be considered when deciding on a financial contribution:

G the scale and efficiency of the human and physical resources actually devoted to inspection work;

G the degree of cooperation with other Member States and the Commission in policing fisheries;

G the Member State’s contribution to inspection work and its compliance with obligations under inspection and
observer schedules established by regional fishery organisations to which the Community is a contracting party;

G the extent of its controls on fishing by its own vessels on the high seas;

G the diversity of fishing activities in the Member State’s fishery zone;

G the reliability of the catch figures notified to the Commission and the Member State’s ability to prevent overrun

of its quotas;

G the state of execution of the eligible expenditure for which a Community contribution has been approved under

Council Decision 95/527/EC or under this Decision;

G the extent of prevention and detection of infringements of the common fisheries policy and the action taken to

penalise them;

G the existence in national

legislation and application in practice of penalties proportionate to the gravity of

infringements that actually deter from further infringements of the same type;

G compliance with the requirement to notify the Commission of detected cases of behaviour seriously infringing

common fishery policy rules, as required by Council Regulation (EC) No 1447/1999.

4. The completed questionnaires on public contracts must refer to the public tender notices published in the Official
Journal of the European Communities. If notices have not been published in the Official Journal, the beneficiary must
certify that the Community legislation on public contracts has been respected.

The Commission may call for any information it considers necessary to decide whether or not Community legislation
on public contracts has been respected.

Reimbursement shall be conditional on submission of supporting documents (two copies) comprising at least the
main elements of the agreement between the Member State and the supplier and the proof of payment. To be
reimbursed, the individual items of expenditure must be listed in a summary statement clearly indicating for each its
nature, link with the proposed programme and amount before VAT.

27.2.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 62 E/281

1. Vehicle inventory

Member State:

> 10 m vessel name/description

1

2

3

4

5

aeroplane name/description

1

2

3

4

5

helicopter name/description

1

2

3

4

5

< 10 m vessels

Part B

Date:

(a) autho-
rity

(b) age

(c) life expectancy

(d) remaining life

(e) % time spent on enforcement

(g) FTE
(e H l)

Total

Total

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

Total

(f) number

Total

Total

Notes
Name/description G the vehicle name should be recorded, if applicable. If the vehicle does not have a name a brief description should be given e.g. the make and model. If the
authority has more than one vehicle of the same make and model, the vehicle should be assigned a number. Whichever method is used to describe the vehicle, that method
should be used in all records or correspondance relating to the vehicle.
(a) the name of the enforcement/government authority that operates the vehicle
(b) the age of the vehicle in years
(c) the operational life expectancy of the vehicle from new in years
(d) the remaining operational life of the vehicle in years (c G b)
(e) the percentage of operating time the vehicle spends engaged in enforcement activity
(f)
(g) FTE (Full Time Equivalent) (percentage of operating time spent on enforcement H l) FTE should be less than l.
Total G the sum of all FTE giving the total effective number of vehicles engaged in enforcement activity. The total should not exceed the number of vehicles used in MCS.
< 10 m vessels G number of < 10 m vessels operated by each enforcement authority
Lnd vehicles G number of land vehicles operated by each enforcement authority

total number of < 10 m vessels or land vehicles operated by each enforcement authority

C 62 E/282

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

27.2.2001

2. Staff inventory

Member State:

Date:

(a) authority

(b) main area of operation

(c) number (FTE)

(d) % time spent on
enforcement

(e) FTE enforcement staff

1

2

3

4

5

6

Sea/air based

Land based inspectors

Other land based staff (e.g administrative)

Sea/air based

Land based inspectors

Other land based staff (e.g administrative)

Sea/air based

Land based inspectors

Other land based staff (e.g administrative)

Sea/air based

Land based inspectors

Other land based staff (e.g administrative)

Sea/air based

Land based inspectors

Other land based staff (e.g administrative)

Sea/air based

Land based inspectors

Other land based staff (e.g administrative)

Total

Total

Total

Total

Total

Total

Grand Total

Notes
(a) the name of the enforcement/government authority
(b) the type of duty carried out by enforcement staff
(c) the FTE (Full Time Equivalent) number of people employed by each enforcement authority as sea and air based inspectors, land based inspectors and other land based staff
(d) percentage of total time sea and air based inspectors, land based inspectors and other land based staff spend on enforcement duties
(e) the FTE (Full Time Equivalent) number of enforcement staff (d H c). Should not exceed the FTE number of people employed (c)

27.2.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 62 E/283

3. Vehicle activity

Member State:

Date:

(a) authority

(b) vehicle type

(c) number

(d) FTE

(e) No days at sea
(vessels)

(f) days per vessel

(g) No hours
(planes/helis)

(h) hours per craft

1

2

3

4

5

6

< 10 m vessels

> 10 m vessels

Planes

Helicopters

< 10 m vessels

> 10 m vessels

Planes

Helicopters

< 10 m vessels

> 10 m vessels

Planes

Helicopters

< 10 m vessels

> 10 m vessels

Planes

Helicopters

< 10 m vessels

> 10 m vessels

Planes

Helicopters

< 10 m vessels

> 10 m vessels

Planes

Helicopters

Total

< 10 m vessels

> 10 m vessels

Planes

Helicopters

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

Notes
(a) the name of the enforcement/government authority
(b) type of vehicle used for enforcement duties (< 10 m vessel, > 10 m vessel, plane, helicopter)
(c) total number of craft used for enforcement duties (from vehicles spreadsheet)
(d) FTE (Full Time Equivalent) number of vehicles used for enforcement duties (from vehicles spreadsheet)
(e) total number of days at sea all vessels spent on enforcement duties
(f) number of days spent at sea on enforcement duties per vessel (c/b)
(g) total number of hours at sea all planes and helicopters spent on enforcement duties
(h) number of hours spent at sea on enforcement duties per craft (e/b).

C 62 E/284

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

27.2.2001

4. Budget

Member State:

Date:

(a) authority

(b) total budget (own currency)

(c) enforcement budget (own currency)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Total

Notes
(a) the name of the enforcement/government authority with fisheries enforcement obligations
(b) total budget for each authority with fisheries enforcement duties
(c) budget spent on fisheries enforcement activity by each authority with enforcement duties G c < or = b.

27.2.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 62 E/285

5. Inspections (1)

Member State:

Inspection type
In port/port controls
At sea
By air

Nationality of vessel inspected
Own State vessels
Other Member State vessels
Third country vessels

ICES Area inspected (by sea)
II
III
IVa
IVb
V
VIa
VIb
VIIa
VIIb-k
VIII
IX
X
Med
Other

ICES Area inspected (by air)
II
III
IVa
IVb
V
VIa
VIb
VIIa
VIIb-k
VIII
IX
X
Med
Other

VMS
No vessels fitted with VMS

Total

Total

Total

Total

(a) No of inspections

a1. Visual

a2. Other

Date:

(b) No of infringements

n/a
n/a

n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a

(c) Number

(b) No of infringements

Notes
(a) number of inspections carried out by air, by sea and from land
a1. number of visual inspections carried out.
a2. number of other inspections carried out e.g. boarding vessel, checking logbook, etc.
(b) number of infringements detected.
Inspection type G number of inspections carried out at sea, from the air and in port.
Nationality of vessel inspected G number of inspections of own State vessels, other Member State vessels and third country vessels.
ICES Area inspected (by sea) G number of inspections carried out in each ICES Area by enforcement vessels.
ICES Area inspected (aerial) G number of inspections carried out in each ICES Area by enforcement planes/helicopters.

(1) In accordance with Title I of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93.

C 62 E/286

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

27.2.2001

6. Effort/physical characteristics

Member State:

Length of coast (km)
Size of EEZ (km2)

Number of landing ports

Fleet size

< 10 m vessels

> 10 m vessels

Landings by nationality of vessel

Own State vessels

Other Member State vessels

Third country vessels

Landings by ICES Area (own State vessels)

II

III

IVa

IVb

V

VIa

VIb

VIIa

VIIb-k

VIII

IX

X

Med

Other

Date:

Number

Tonnes

Tonnes

Total

Total

Total

Notes
Fleet size G number of own State vessels of each size (< 10 m and > 10 m)
Landings by nationality of vessel G landings into own State by own State vessels, other Member State vessels and third country vessels, in tonnes

Landings by ICES Area (own State vessels) G landings into own State by own State vessels by Area of capture

27.2.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 62 E/287

ANNEX III

CONTENT OF ASSESSMENT REPORT

Programme objectives

Resources deployed

Actual expenditure

Programme results

Programme impact

Cost-effectiveness of the expenditure

Impact of the Community contribution