Evaluation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1100/2007 of 18 September 2007 establishing measures for the recovery of the stock of European eel.
Date: 2018-04-13
Institutions: Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, European Commission
Subjects: common fisheries policy



IMMC.Ares%282018%291986447.ENG.xhtml.PART-2018-200596V1.docx











EVALUATION ROADMAP  






Roadmaps aim to inform citizens and stakeholders about the Commission's work to allow them to provide feedback and to participate effectively in future consultation activities. Citizens and stakeholders are in particular invited to provide views on the Commission's understanding of the problem and possible solutions and to share any relevant information that they may have.






Title of the evaluation




Evaluation of the Eel Regulation
I







Lead DG – responsible unit 




Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE) – Unit D3 "Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and Structural Support - Policy Development and Coordination"






Indicative Planning 


(planned start date and completion date)




Planned start date Q1 2018


Planned completion date Q1 2019






Additional Information




https://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/marine_species/wild_species/eel/management_plans_en 






The Roadmap is provided for information purposes only. It does not prejudge the final decision of the Commission on whether this initiative will be pursued or on its final content. All elements of the initiative described by the document, including its timing, are subject to change.









A. Context, purpose and scope of the evaluation






Context






According to solid scientific advice, the European eel stock is in critical condition and "urgent" action is needed to ensure its recovery. On this basis, during the December 2017 Council
II
 meeting, in the context of the negotiations of the Regulation for 2018 Fishing opportunities
III
, the European Commission and Member States agreed to step up their efforts to protect the stock. This includes also carrying out the evaluation of the Eel Regulation.


The evaluation will assess the measures to protect European eel under the Eel Regulation, and in particular the contribution of the national Eel Management Plans established and implemented under this Regulation to the recovery of the stock of European eel. These Plans include measures to ensure the escapement to the sea of at least 40% of adult eels relative to the escapement levels that would have existed in the absence of human influences, such as limiting (professional and recreational) fisheries; making it easier for fish to migrate through the rivers; restocking suitable inland waters with young eel.


The Commission attempted a first assessment of the outcome of the implementation of the Eel Management Plans in 2014, on the basis of the first progress reports submitted by Member States in line with article 9 of the Eel Regulation and reported to the European Parliament and to the Council
IV
. The results of this first assessment were largely inconclusive due to the delays in the preparation and approval of the national Eel Management Plans.






Purpose and scope






The evaluation will assess the measures taken for the recovery of European eel stock under the Eel Regulation and their contribution to the achievement of the objectives of this regulation, on the basis of several criteria, such as the effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, coherence, EU added-value and sustainability of the measures taken under the Regulation.


The evaluation will look in particular into the content and implementation of the Eel management plans and Member States reporting under the Eel Regulation to assess if they have adequately addressed all mortality factors affecting the eel stock, with a special emphasis to the design and implementation of restocking measures and the management of glass eel fisheries.


It will also cover enforcement and monitoring issues, both in marine and in inland waters. The evaluation will also look into the articulation and coherence between the Eel Regulation and other EU rules in place such as the Common Fisheries Policy
V
, the fisheries control regulation
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 and environmental legislation, in particular the Water Framework Directive
VII
. It will also look into the articulation and coherence with international instruments that cover eels, such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
VIII
 and the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)
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.


The evaluation will also cover biological aspects and the use of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF)
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 for the implementation of the Eel Regulation.


The evaluation will cover the entire period since the entry into force the Regulation. 


The evaluation results will be used in order to inform the decision whether the Eel regulation needs to be reviewed or whether it is the implementation which needs to be improved. It will provide evidence for a possible future impact assessment and/or guide the Commission in improving the implementation of the Regulation.






B. Better regulation






Consultation of citizens and stakeholders






The objectives of the consultations are to: (1) analyse and integrate the views and experiences of those that are directly affected by implementation of the Eel Regulation and (2) gather the views of citizens and wider stakeholder community on the issues related to the implementation of the Eel Regulation.


Main stakeholders interested in the implementation of the Eel Regulation are national authorities in charge of the implementation and enforcement of the eel management plans, EMFF management authorities, Eel scientists and in particular Joint Working Group on Eels
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, the "Sustainable Eel Group", other representatives of the eel catching, processing and marketing sector in Member States, Eel Aquaculture operators, eel recreational fishermen associations, non-governmental organisations interested in marine biological resources.


The main consultation tools used will be a Commission-led public consultation and targeted consultations with the assistance of an external consultancy within a supporting evaluation study.


The results of the consultations will be analysed and integrated into the consultant's study as well as in Commission's evaluation report.


The public consultation will be made available via the Commission's central public consultations page in October 2018 for a minimum period of 12 weeks. Upon closure of the consultation, all contributions will be published along with a synopsis of all consultation events and feedbacks. The public consultation will be available in several EU languages (English, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, Estonian, Lithuanian, Latvian, Finnish, Swedish, Danish, Czech, Polish, Bulgarian, Croatian, Slovenian).






Data collection and methodology






The evaluation will be based on three pillars: 


(1) an evaluation study to be carried out by an external consultancy and which will primary look into management, implementation and enforcement issues, including trade aspects; 


(2) the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) recurrent advices on eels and the ad hoc assessment of the 2018 Member States’ progress reports for the biological part; and


(3) Commission's analysis of the use of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund for the implementation of the Eel Regulation.


For this evaluation data will be used from:


Member States national eel management plans and relevant progress reports;


Member States reports on the use of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund;


the results of inspections carried out on eel fishing activities;


feedback from Member States;


literature review, reports, scientific advice on eels (in particular annual ICES advice on the state of the Eel stock and ad hoc advices requested);


River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) submitted under the Water Framework Directive and relevant evaluation reports of the second cycle RBMPs (to become available in summer 2018).


Previous assessment report: 2014 Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the outcome of the implementation of the Eel Management Plans, including an evaluation of the measures concerning restocking and of the evolution of market prices for eels less than 12 cm in length4.










(I)


 Council Regulation (EC) No 1100/2007 of 18 September 2007 establishing measures for the recovery of the stock of European eel




(II)


 Interinstitutional file: 2017/0287




(III)


 http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2017/12/13/council-agreement-on-2018-fishing-quotas-in-the-atlantic-and-north-sea/ 




(IV)


 Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the outcome of the implementation of the Eel Management Plans, including an evaluation of the measures concerning restocking and of the evolution of market prices for eels less than 12 cm in length – COM(2014)0640 final 




(V)


 Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy, amending Council Regulations (EC) No 1954/2003 and (EC) No 1224/2009 and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2371/2002 and (EC) No 639/2004 and Council Decision 2004/585/EC




(VI)


 Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 of 20 November 2009 establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the common fisheries policy, amending Regulations (EC) No 847/96, (EC) No 2371/2002, (EC) No 811/2004, (EC) No 768/2005, (EC) No 2115/2005, (EC) No 2166/2005, (EC) No 388/2006, (EC) No 509/2007, (EC) No 676/2007, (EC) No 1098/2007, (EC) No 1300/2008, (EC) No 1342/2008 and repealing Regulations (EEC) No 2847/93, (EC) No 1627/94 and (EC) No 1966/2006




(VII)


 Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy




(VIII)


 https://www.cites.org/ 




(IX)


 http://www.cms.int/ 




(X)


 Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2328/2003, (EC) No 861/2006, (EC) No 1198/2006 and (EC) No 791/2007 and Regulation (EU) No 1255/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council




(XI)


 Joint EIFAAC/ICES/GFCM Working Group on Eels (WGEEL)