Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION amending Regulation (EU) 2019/2236 of 16 December 2019 fixing for 2020 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Mediterranean and Black Seas
Date: 2020-08-25
Institutions: Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, European Commission
Subjects: EU waters, Mediterranean Sea, Spain, catch by species, catch quota, conservation of fish stocks, deep-sea fishing, fishing area, fishing rights, sea fish

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 25.8.2020  COM(2020) 431 final 2020/0203 (NLE)  Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION amending Regulation (EU) 2019/2236 of 16 December 2019 fixing for 2020 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Mediterranean and Black Seas   
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

• 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

Reasons for and objectives of the proposal 

Council Regulation (EU) 2019/2236 fixing for 2020 the fishing opportunities for fish stocks 
and  groups  of  fish  stocks  applicable  in  the  Mediterranean  and  Black  Seas1  needs  to  be 
modified to take into account modifications corrections in the baseline of Spain regarding the 
fishing effort.  

• 

Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area 

The measures  proposed  are designed in  accordance with  the objectives and the rules of the 
Common  Fisheries  Policy  and  are  consistent  with  the  Union's  policy  on  sustainable 
development.  

• 

Consistency with other Union policies 

The  measures  proposed  are  consistent  with  other  Union  policies,  in  particular  with  the 
policies in the field of environment.  

2. 

• 

LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY 

Legal basis 

The  legal  basis  of  this  proposal  is  Article  43(3)  of  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the 
European Union.  

The  Union's  obligations  for  sustainable  exploitation  of  living  aquatic  resources  arise  from 
obligations set out in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament 
and of the Council2 .  

• 

Subsidiarity (for non-exclusive competence)  

The proposal falls under the Union exclusive competence as referred to in Article 3(1)(d) of 
the Treaty. The subsidiarity principle therefore does not apply.  

• 

Proportionality 

The proposal complies with the proportionality principle for the following reason: the CFP is 
a common policy. According to Article 43(3) of the Treaty, it is incumbent upon the Council 
to adopt the measures on the fixing and allocation of fishing opportunities.  

• 

Choice of the instrument 

Proposed instrument: regulation.   

1 
Council Regulation (EU) 2019/2236 of 16 December 2019 fixing for 2020 the fishing opportunities for 
certain  fish  stocks  and  groups  of  fish  stocks  applicable  in  the  Mediterranean  and  Black  Seas.  Please  refer  to 
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32019R2236&from=en  
2 
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 
(OJ L 354, 28.12.2013, p. 22). 

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3. 

• 

RESULTS 
CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS 

EX-POST 

EVALUATIONS, 

OF 

STAKEHOLDER 

Ex-post evaluations/fitness checks of existing legislation 

Not applicable  

• 

Stakeholder consultations 

Not applicable. 

• 

Collection and use of expertise 

Not applicable. 

• 

Impact assessment 

The  scope  of  the  fishing  opportunities  regulation  is  circumscribed  by  Article  43(3)  of  the 
Treaty.  

• 

Regulatory fitness and simplification 

Not applicable.  

• 

Fundamental rights 

Not applicable.  

4. 

BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS 

The proposed measures will have no budgetary implications.  

5. 

• 

OTHER ELEMENTS 

Implementation plans and monitoring, evaluation and reporting arrangements 

Not applicable.  

• 

Explanatory documents (for directives) 

Not applicable.  

• 

Detailed explanation of the specific provisions of the proposal 

The proposed amendment seeks to modify Council Regulation (EU) 2019/2236 as described 
below. 
The  western  Mediterranean  Multi-Annual  management  Plan  (MAP)3  covers  demersal 
trawling  from  Spain,  France  and  Italy  and  entered  into  force  on  27  June  2019.  The  MAP 
provides in particular for an effort regime with gradual effort reductions, calculated based on 
a baseline determined by Member States in accordance with the criteria set out in the MAP. 
The effort reduction prescribed by the MAP for 2020, the first  year of implementation, was 
set in Council Regulation (EU) 2019/2236.  

Regarding the calculation of effort reduction, Spain informed the Commission at the end of 
May  2020  about  an  error  in  their  fishing  effort  data  which  has  implication  on  the  baseline 

3 
Regulation (EU) 2019/1022 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 establishing 
a multiannual plan for the fisheries exploiting demersal stocks in the western Mediterranean Sea and amending 
Regulation (EU) No 508/2014, please refer to http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2019/1022/oj. 

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used  for  fishing  effort  reduction,  not  in  terms  of  amount  of  the  baseline  but  how  it  gets 
distributed  between  fishing  effort  groups  in  Spain.  During  the  process  of  this  baseline 
estimation,  Spain  identified  a  flaw  in  the  technical  calculation  to  separate  the  fishing  days 
between the coastal fishery and the deep fishery (i.e. red shrimp, one of the key target species 
in the MAP) in the case of the trips with a duration of more than one day. This modification 
in  the  calculation  does  not  affect  the  total  number  of  fishing  days  for  Spain  regarding  the 
effort and only concerns a small proportion of the total trips and vessels. However, it has a 
significant impact on the allocation of fishing days between both fisheries, for Spain and for 
Spanish vessels.  

This  modification does not  have implication for the other Member States implementing the 
MAP. 

Therefore, in order to avoid any discrepancy between the Spanish reporting on their fishing 
effort  and  the  amount  of  fishing  effort  adopted  for  2020  in  the  aforementioned  Council 
Regulation, the Fishing Opportunities Regulation for 2020 needs to be amended accordingly, 
to correct the data.   

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2020/0203 (NLE) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending Regulation (EU) 2019/2236 of 16 December 2019 fixing for 2020 the fishing 
opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the 
Mediterranean and Black Seas 

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 European Commission, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

Council Regulation (EU) 2019/22364 fixes for 2020 the fishing opportunities for fish 
stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Mediterranean and Black Seas 

The  Multiannual  plan  for  the  fisheries  exploiting  demersal  stocks  in  the  western 
Mediterranean  Sea  was  established  by  Regulation  (EU)  2019/1022  of  the  European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council5.  Pursuant  to  Article  4(1)  of  that  Regulation,  fishing 
opportunities  for  stocks  listed  in  Article  1  of  that  Regulation  should  be  fixed  to 
achieve  fishing  mortality  at  Maximum  Sustainable  Yield  (‘MSY’)  on  a  progressive, 
incremental basis by 2020 where possible, and by 1 January 2025 at the latest. Fishing 
opportunities  should  be  expressed  as  maximum  allowable  fishing  effort  and  fixed  in 
accordance  with  the  fishing  effort  regime  laid  down  in  Article  7  of  that  Regulation. 
Each Member State should have calculated the baseline for each fishing effort group 
or geographical sub-area as the average fishing effort, expressed as number of fishing 
days between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2017, and should take account only of 
vessels  active  during  that  period.    For  2020,  the  maximum  allowable  fishing  effort 
should  therefore  be  reduced  by  10  %  compared  to  the  baseline  calculated  in 
accordance  with  Article  7(4)  of  that  Regulation.  The  Member  States  have  declared 
their baseline effort data by fleet segments and in fishing days. 

(3) 

During  the  process  of  baseline  estimation  for  the  effort  reduction,  Spain  identified  a 
flaw  in  the  technical  calculation  to  separate  the  fishing  days  between  the  coastal 
fishery  and  the  deep  fishery  (i.e.  red  shrimp,  one  of  the  key  target  species  in 
Regulation (EU) 2019/1022), in the case of trips with a duration of more than one day.  

(4) 

Consequently, there is  a need to amend the calculation of Spain’s baseline regarding 
the  maximum  allowable  fishing  effort  in  fishing  days.  This  modification  to  the 

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COUNCIL  REGULATION  (EU)  2019/2236  of  16  December  2019  fixing  for  2020  the  fishing 
opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Mediterranean and Black 
Seas (OJ L 336, 30-12-2019, p. 14). 
5 
Regulation (EU) 2019/1022 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 establishing 
a multiannual plan for the fisheries exploiting demersal stocks in the western Mediterranean Sea and amending 
Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 (OJ L 172, 26.6.2019, p. 1). 

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calculation does not affect the total number of fishing days for Spain, nor does it have 
an  implication  for  the  other  Member  States  implementing  the  Multi-annual 
management  plan.  However,  this  modification  is  necessary  in  order  to  avoid  any 
discrepancy  between  the  Spanish  reporting  on  their  fishing  effort  and  the  amount  of 
fishing effort set out in Regulation (EU) 2019/2236. 

Regulation (EU) 2019/2236 should therefore be amended accordingly. 

In order to avoid the interruption of fishing activities and to ensure the livelihood of 
Union  fishers,  this  Regulation  should  apply  from  1  January  2020.  For  reasons  of 
urgency,  this  Regulation  should  enter  into  force  immediately  upon  publication. 

(5) 

(6) 

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 
Amendment of Regulation (EU) 2019/2236  

In Annex I to Council Regulation (EU) No 2019/2236, in the section referring to ‘Maximum 
allowable fishing effort in fishing days’ table (a) is replaced by the 
following: 

“Alboran Sea, Balearic Islands, Northern Spain and Gulf of Lion (GSAs 1-2-5-6-7) 

Stock group 

Red  mullet  in  GSAs  1, 
5,  6  and  7;  Hake  in 
GSAs  1-5-6-7;  Deep-
water  rose  shrimp  in 
GSAs  1,  5  and  6; 
in 
Norway 
GSAs 5 and 6. 

lobster 

Blue  and  red  shrimp  in 
GSAs 1, 5, 6 and 7. 

Overall length of 
vessels 

< 12 m 

≥ 12 m and < 18 m 

≥ 18 m and < 24 m 

≥ 24 m 

< 12 m 

≥ 12 m and < 18 m 

≥ 18 m and < 24 m 

≥ 24 m 

Spain 

France 

Italy 

2 260 

24 284 

45 563 

16 047 

0 

1139 

11535 

9260 

0 

0 

5 144 

6 258 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

Fishing effort 
group code 

EFF1/MED1_TR1 

EFF1/MED1_TR2 

EFF1/MED1_TR3 

EFF1/MED1_TR4 

EFF2/MED1_TR1 

EFF2/MED1_TR2 

EFF2/MED1_TR3 

EFF2/MED1_TR4 

” 

Article 2 

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

It shall apply from 1 January 2020. 

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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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