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 proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 812/2004
Date: 2014-03-07
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: by-catch, comitology, delegation of power, disclosure of information, signalling device, technical standard

EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION 

Brussels, 7.3.2014  
COM(2014) 159 final 

2012/0216 (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 proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and 
of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 812/2004 

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2012/0216 (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 proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and 
of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 812/2004 

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the European Parliament and 
to the Council 
(document COM(2012) 447 final – 2012/0216 (COD):  

8 August 2012 

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

14 November 2012 

Date of the opinion of the Committee of the Regions: 

No opinion 

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

16 April 2013 

Date of adoption of the position of the Council: 

3 March 2014 

2. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSAL FROM THE COMMISSION 

The overall objective of the proposal is to align the provisions of the Council Regulation (EC) 
No  812/2004  laying  down  measures  concerning  incidental  catches  of  cetaceans  in  fisheries 
and  amending  Regulation  (EC)  No  88/98  with  the  provisions  of  the  Lisbon  Treaty  by 
reclassifying  the  powers  conferred  upon  the  Commission  to  measures  of  delegated  and 
implementing nature.  

3. 

COMMENTS ON THE POSITION OF THE COUNCIL 

3.1.  General comments on Council position: 

The  Commission  agrees  with  the  Council  position,  as  the  compromise  political  agreement 
between  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  maintains  the  reclassificiation  of  the 
powers as it figures in the Commission's proposal. The Council has defined the scope of the 
delegated act concerning acoustic deterrent devices in more specific terms to improve clarity. 
The  Commission  can  accept  this  compromise.  The  Council  also  limited  the  duration  of  the 
delegation  of  powers  to  four  years  in  agreement  with  the  European  Parliament.  The 
Commission can accept this limitation, given that it contains a tacit-renewal clause. 

3.2.  Amendments by the European Parliament at first reading: 

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The  European  Parliament  introduced  4  amendments,  which  did  not  challenge  the 
reclassification of the powers conferred upon the  Commission. The most important  of these 
amendements restricted the duration of the delegation of powers to three years and introduced 
an  obligation  to  review  this  regulation  and  submit  an  amendment  proposal  by  the  31 
December 2015.  

During  the  trilogue,  the  amendments  of  the  European  Parliament  were  reviewed  and 
negotiated. As a result, the delegation of powers was limited to four years and the obligation 
to review the provisions of the regulation was formulated in a way to respect Commission's 
right to initiative.  

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

The Council and Parliament have agreed to add an obligation for the Commission to review 
the  provisions  of  this  Regulation  by  the  end  of  2015  and,  if  appropriate  to  submit  a  new 
legislative proposal. The Commission can accept this as it protects the Commission's right to 
initative and also provides a reference to the development of measures under regionalisation, 
which is a key objective of the Common Fisheries Policy.   

Council  did  specificially  define  the  scope  of  the  delegation  of  powers  in  respect  of  the 
specifciations and use of acoustic deterrent devices. The Commission can accept this on the 
basis that provides clarity. 

Problems  encountered  in  the  adoption  of  the  position  at  first  reading  and 

3.4. 
Commission position in this regard: 

During  finalisation  of  negotations  an  agreement  was  reached  on  the  empowerment  of  the 
Commission. The Commission can accept the agreed arrangements.  

However,  concerning  the  obligation  to  review  this  regulation  and  submit  an  overarching 
legislative  proposal  if  appropriate,  the  Commission  sees  the  need  to  make  a  statement  to 
clarify its position. 

4. 

CONCLUSION 

The Commission can agree with the Council position which is the outcome of the negotiations 
with  the  European  Parliament.  Nevertheless,  the  Commission  sees  the  need  to  make  a 
statement in relation to Article 7.3, as follows.  

Ad Article 7.3 
Commission will consider coming forward with a proposal for a new technical measures framework 
including  mitigating  measures  to  minimise  incidental  catches  of  cetaceans  and  other  sensitive 
species and allow the development of specific measures tailored to the specificities of fisheries at a 
regional level if appropriate. Once this is achieved, this regulation will be repealed. 

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