COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSIONTO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTpursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Unionconcerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on certain provisions for fishing in the GFCM (General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean) Agreement Area
Date: 2011-10-25
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean region (EU), fishing agreement, fishing area, fishing rights

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 25.10.2011 
COM(2011) 697 final 

2009/0129 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 

concerning the 

position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and 
of the Council on certain provisions for fishing in the GFCM (General Fisheries 
Commission for the Mediterranean) Agreement Area 

 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
2009/0129 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 

concerning the 

position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and 
of the Council on certain provisions for fishing in the GFCM (General Fisheries 
Commission for the Mediterranean) Agreement Area 

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the European Parliament and 
to the Council 
(document COM(2009) 477 final – 2009/0129 COD): 

16.09.2009. 

Date  of  the  opinion  of  the  European  Economic  and  Social 
Committee: 

17.03.2010. 

Date of the position of the European Parliament, first reading: 

08.03.2011. 

Date of transmission of the amended proposal: 

Date of adoption of the position of the Council: 

29.03.2011. 

20.10.2011. 

2. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSAL FROM THE COMMISSION 

The  aim  of  the  proposal  is  to  transpose  into  EU  law  recommendations  adopted  in  the 
framework of the Agreement for the establishment of the General Fisheries Commission for 
the Mediterranean (GFCM) and to amend Council Regulation 1967/2006. These international 
conservation and management measures are already in force and binding on the EU and the 
Member States. Transposition is nevertheless necessary in order to make these international 
measures applicable to natural or legal persons at EU level and to ensure legal certainty to that 
effect. 

3. 

COMMENTS ON THE POSITION OF THE COUNCIL 

3.1. 

General comments on Council position: 

The  Commission  agrees  that  the  transposition  of  new  GFCM  recommendations  should  be 
subject  to  the  ordinary  legislative  procedure  but  it  has  always  taken  the  position  that  the 
Commission  should  be  vested  with  delegated  powers  to  transpose  into  EU  law  at  least 
amendments  to  all  existing  measures.  The  Council's  position  is  a  significant  move  vis-à-vis 
the Commission's original position, although it does not fully correspond with it. In order to 
avoid further delays in the transposition of binding GFCM measures into EU law that would 
result from a long second reading, the Council position can be supported.  

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3.2. 

Amendments by the European Parliament at first reading: 

– 

– 

integrated in the Council position at first reading: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 
16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 40, 45, 
46, 50, 51 and 52.  

not integrated in the Council position at first reading: 41, 42, 43 and 44 relating to 
delegation;  26  relating  to  the  first  deadline  for  transmission  of  the  list  of  demersal 
trawlers  in  the  Black  Sea;  47  and  13  relating  to  the  recitals  on  implementing  and 
delegated acts respectively; 48 and 49 relating to implementing acts. 

When preparing its Common Position the Council took over all those Parliament amendments 
which were uncontentious and made additional changes to reflect the outcome of the trilogue 
of 21 June 2011. The legal services and lawyer linguists of both institutions were mandated to 
make all the relevant adjustments to the text. The resulting document therefore represents the 
Commission proposal modified following agreed Parliament amendments and integrating the 
outcome of the trilogue on those sensitive issues. 

3.3. 

New  provisions  introduced  by  the  Council  and  Commission  position  in  this 
regard: 

Following the request of the Presidency, the Commission identified a list of Articles suitable 
for implementing acts: Article 9 (information - report on fisheries activities) Article 12(4) and 
(6) (on closed seasons), Article 14 (data collection), Article 15(3) on minimum mesh size in 
the  Black  Sea),  Article  23  (cooperation  and  information)  and  Article  24(4)  (statistical 
matrices). This list was communicated during the Council Working Party of 16 June 2011. No 
objections to this list were raised during the third informal trilogue of 21 June 2011.  

The  Council  in  its  current  position  introduced  those  specifications,  in  respect  of  which  the 
Commission has no objections. 

Other minor changes result from the fact that the text has been revised by the legal-linguistic 
experts and has been aligned to the changes introduced by the Lisbon Treaty, to the standard 
wordings based on the new Comitology Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 and on the Common 
Understanding  on  Delegated  Acts.  The  recitals  are  adapted  to  the  final  contents  of  the 
operational provisions of the Proposal. 

The Commission has no objections with regard to these changes.  

3.4. 

Problems  encountered  in  the  adoption  of  the  position  at  first  reading  and 
Commission position in this regard: 

The  Commission  proposal  was  prepared  and  presented  before  the  entry  into  force  of  the 
Lisbon Treaty. Therefore the provisions on comitology had to be adapted to the Lisbon Treaty 
by  foreseeing  implementing  and  delegated  acts  in  accordance  with  Articles  291  and  290 
TFEU. This resulted in long discussions. The Commission position in this regard has always 
been  that  delegated  powers  should  be  conferred  upon  the  Commission  for  the  purposes  of 
transposing into EU law at least amendments to all existing measures.  

4. 

CONCLUSION 

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The  Commission  can  agree  with  the  Council  position  which  is  the  result  of  the  discussions 
with the European Parliament, in view of an early adoption of the Regulation. Nevertheless, 
the Commission is concerned that the limited powers delegated to it by the co legislators may 
affect the EU's ability to ensure a timely transposition into EU law of measures established by 
the  GFCM  in  the  future,  which  revise  or  update  the  international  conservation  and 
management  measures  of  this  organisation.  Consequently,  the  Commission  makes  the 
following declaration: 

The  Commission  expresses  concern  that  the  limited  powers  delegated  to  it  by  the  co-
legislators  may  affect  the  EU's  ability  to  ensure  the  timely  transposition  in  EU  law  of 
measures taken by the GFCM in the future that revise or update the international conservation 
and management measures of this organisation. 

The Commission therefore may propose amendments to the Regulation increasing the number 
of measures which should be adopted by delegated acts in case the transposition through the 
ordinary  legislative  procedure  leads  to  delays  which  would  jeopardise  the  EU's  ability  to 
comply with its international obligations. 

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