Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION concerning the allocation of the fishing opportunities under the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Community and the Union of the Comoros
Date: 2010-10-15
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Comoros, cooperation agreement, economic development, fishery management, fishing agreement, fishing area, fishing industry, fishing rights

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 15.10.2010 
COM(2010) 563 final 

2010/0285 (NLE) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

concerning the allocation of the fishing opportunities under the Fisheries Partnership 
Agreement between the European Community and the Union of the Comoros 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

Based  on  a  mandate  from  the  Council1,  the  European  Commission  has  negotiated  with  the 
Union of the Comoros to renew the Protocol to the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between 
the  European  Community  and  the  Union  of  the  Comoros,  dated  6  October  2006.  On 
conclusion  of  these  negotiations,  a  new  Protocol  was  initialled  on  21  May  2010  covering  a 
period of three years from the time of the adoption of the Council decision on the signing on 
behalf of the Union and on the provisional application of the said Protocol and after expiry of 
the current Protocol on 31 December 2010. 

The  new  Protocol  to  the  Partnership  Agreement  was  transmitted  to  the  Council  for  it  to 
approve the signing and the provisional application. It was also transmitted to the Council and 
to the Parliament with a view to its conclusion. 

With  regard  to  the  fishing  opportunities,  45  tuna  seiners  and  25  surface  longliners  will  be 
authorised  to  fish  under  the  new  Protocol.  In  accordance  with  the  Treaty,  the  method  for 
allocating the fishing opportunities among the Member States should be defined. 

The Commission proposes, on this basis, that the Council adopt this Regulation. 

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Decision No 9180/10 of 10 May 2010. 

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2010/0285 (NLE) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

concerning the allocation of the fishing opportunities under the Fisheries Partnership 
Agreement between the European Community and the Union of the Comoros 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Article 43(3) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission2, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

The European Union and the Union of the Comoros have negotiated and initialled on 
21  May  2010  a  new  Protocol  to  the  Fisheries  Partnership  Agreement  providing 
European  Union  vessels  with  fishing  opportunities  in  the  waters  over  which  the 
Comoros has sovereignty or jurisdiction in respect of fisheries, 

The Council has adopted on […] decision XXX/2010/EU3 on the signing and on the 
provisional application of the new Protocol, 

The method for allocating the fishing opportunities among the Member States should 
be defined both for the period of the provisional application and for the duration of the 
Protocol, 

In order to ensure that the fishing opportunities available to the European Union under 
the  Protocol  are  used  in  full,  it  is  necessary  that  the  Commission  be  empowered  to 
temporarily reallocate fishing opportunities not used by one Member State to another 
Member  State,  without  affecting  the  allocation  or  the  exchange  of  fishing 
opportunities amongst the Member States under the Protocol, 

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the 
Official  Journal  of  the  European  Union  in  particular  to  ensure  the  continuity  of  the 
fishing activities after the expiry of the current Protocol on 31 December 2010. 

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OJ C , , p. . 
OJ C , , p. . 

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HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

1. 

The  fishing  opportunities  set  out  in  the  Protocol  to  the  Fisheries  Partnership 
Agreement  between  the  European  Community  and  the  Union  of  the  Comoros,  as 
provided  for  in  Decision  XXX/2010/EU  on  the  signing  and  on  the  provisional 
application  of  the  Protocol  to  the  Fisheries  Partnership  Agreement  between  the 
European Community and the Union of the Comoros, shall be allocated among the 
Member States as follows: 

(a) 

tuna seiners 

Spain 

France 

Italy 

(b) 

surface longliners 

Spain 

France 

Portugal 

22  vessels

22  vessels

1 vessel

12  vessels

8  vessels

5 vessels

2. 

3. 

Without  prejudice  to  the  provisions  of  the  Agreement  and  the  Protocol,  Council 
Regulation (EC) No 1006/2008 of 29 September 2008 concerning authorisations for 
fishing  activities  of  Community  fishing  vessels  outside  Community  waters  and  the 
access of third country vessels to Community waters4 shall apply. 

If  applications  for  fishing  authorisations  from  the  Member  States  referred  to  in 
paragraph 1  do  not  cover  all  the  fishing  opportunities  set  by  the  Protocol,  the 
Commission  may  consider  applications  for  fishing  authorisations  from  any  other 
Member State in accordance with the provisions of Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 
1006/2008. 

If  it  appears  that  the  fishing  opportunities  referred  to  in  paragraph  1  are  not  being 
fully  used,  the  Commission  shall  inform  the  Member  States  concerned  and  request 
them to confirm that they are not making use of those fishing opportunities. Absence 
of a reply within 10 days shall be considered as confirmation that the vessels of the 
Member State concerned are not making full use of their fishing opportunities during 
the  period  in  question.  After  confirmation  by  the  Member  State  concerned,  the 
unused fishing opportunities shall be made available to the Member States. 

4 

OJ L 286, 29.10.2008, p. 33. 

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

Article 2 

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

Done at Brussels,  

For the Council 
The President  

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