REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1921/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 on the submission of statistical data on landings of fishery products in Member States
Date: 2021-12-13
Institutions: European Commission, Eurostat
Subjects: EU Member State, EU statistics, data collection, data transmission, fishery product, fishing statistics, quantity of fish landed

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 13.12.2021  COM(2021) 789 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL    on the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1921/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 on the submission of statistical data on landings of fishery products in Member States      
 
 
1 

BACKGROUND 

The  Commission  (Eurostat)  collects  statistical  data  on  landings  of  fishery  products  under 
Regulation  (EC)  No  1921/2006  (‘the  Regulation’)1.  According  to  Article  2  of  the  Regulation, 
fishery  products  are  deemed  to  be  landed  on  Member  States’  territory  if  landed  by  EU  and 
European Free Trade Association (EFTA) fishing vessels, or  if landed on non-EU territory by 
EU  fishing  vessels  and  then  imported  into  the  EU2.  Article  10  of  the  Regulation  requires  the 
Commission  to  submit  every  3  years  a  report  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council 
assessing, in particular, the quality and relevance of the statistical data collected. The report must 
also analyse the cost-effectiveness of the system for collecting and processing statistical data on 
landings and propose any best practices to lessen the workload at national level and lead to more 
useful, higher-quality statistical data. 

The  Regulation  applies  to  EU  Member  States,  Norway  and  Iceland.  However  as  it  relates  to 
landings  of  fishery  products  that  are  marine  catch,  landlocked countries are  exempted  from  the 
data  reporting  obligation  (5  Member  States:  Czechia,  Luxemburg,  Hungary,  Austria  and 
Slovakia). 

This report is based on (i) the quality reports on landings submitted to Eurostat by the reporting 
Member States for the reference year 2019, (ii) compliance  analysis and (iii) cost data collected 
by Eurostat. 

The Commission adopted previous assessment reports concerning statistics on landings submitted 
under this Regulation in November 20103, April 20144, May 20165 and February 20196. 

European  fisheries  statistics  also  include  detailed  statistics  on  catches,  fleet  and  aquaculture  in 
addition to those on landings. Other Commission departments, mainly the Directorate-General for 
Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE),  also collect a large amount of data under Council 
Regulation  (EC)  No  1224/20097  and  Regulation  (EU)  No  2017/10048  in  order  to  manage  the 

1   Regulation (EC) No 1921/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 on 
the submission of statistical data on landings of fishery products in Member States and repealing Council 
Regulation (EEC) No 1382/91 (OJ L 403, 30.12.2006, p. 1). 

2  

This  means  that  these  statistics  are  not  comparable  to  landing  data  collected  under  Council  Regulation 
(EC) No 1224/2009, where data are collected by a vessel’s flag country. 

3   Report  from  the  Commission  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  on  the  implementation  of 
Regulation  (EC)  No  1921/2006  on  the  submission  of  statistical  data  on  landings  of  fishery  products  in 
Member States, COM(2010) 675 final. 

4   Report  from  the  Commission  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  on  the  implementation  of 
Regulation  (EC)  No  1921/2006  on  the  submission  of  statistical  data  on  landings  of  fishery  products  in 
Member States, COM(2014) 240 final. 

5   Report  from  the  Commission  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  on  the  implementation  of 
Regulation  (EC)  No  1921/2006  on  the  submission  of  statistical  data  on  landings  of  fishery  products  in 
Member States, COM(2016) 239 final. 

6   Report  from  the  Commission  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  on  the  implementation  of 
Regulation  (EC)  No  1921/2006  on  the  submission  of  statistical  data  on  landings  of  fishery  products  in 
Member States, COM(2019) 47 final. 

7     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) 

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common fisheries policy. The statistical data collected by Eurostat and the data collected by DG 
MARE overlap partially. This report covers only statistical data on total quantities and unit values 
of  the  fishery  products  landed  in  2019  on  the  territory  of  the  Member  States,  as  collected  by 
Eurostat.  

In 2018, Eurostat launched the project ‘Streamlining and simplifying European fishery statistics’. 
It consists of an evaluation of the current aquaculture, catch and landing statistics and an impact 
assessment  on  future  policy  options  and  possible  future  legislation.  The  evaluation,  which  also 
covered  the  implementation  of  the  Regulation,  was  completed  in  2019.  The  impact  assessment 
was launched in 2020 and was close to being finalised at the time of drafting this report. 

2 

MAIN FINDINGS 

2.1  Punctuality and completeness 

2.1.1  Punctuality 

The  punctuality  of  the  data  transmissions  has  improved  over  recent  years,  with  most  of  the 
reporting countries sending the data on time. For the reference year 2019, the data transmitted by 
one  third  of  the  reporting  countries  needed  some  corrections.  These  corrections  were  provided 
within an acceptable period in most cases. 

The Commission  (Eurostat) releases the data immediately after they are validated. If necessary, 
data can be revised at any time.  

2.1.2  Completeness 

Data completeness has improved thanks to measures taken by the Member States to significantly 
extend their survey coverage of vessel types, foreign vessels and fish species.  

2.2  Consistency 

2.2.1  Quality and accuracy 

Eurostat collects quality reports on  landings statistics every 3 years. They describe the methods 
and  quality  aspects  of  data  collection  based  on  self-assessments  by  the  countries.  Eurostat  has 
used the national quality reports to compile an EU-level quality report9.  

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 (OJ L 343, 22.12.2009, p. 1–50). 

8        Regulation  (EU)  2017/1004  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  17  May  2017  on  the 
establishment of a Union framework for the collection, management and use of data in the fisheries sector 
and support for scientific advice regarding the common fisheries policy and repealing Council Regulation 
(EC) No 199/2008 (OJ L 157, 20.6.2017, p. 1–21). 

9  

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/metadata/EN/fish_ld_esqrs.htm (available only in English). 

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The overall quality of the data was good and most Member States deemed both the non-response 
rate  and  under-coverage  to  be  very  low.  A  very  limited  number  of  Member  States  reported 
measurement  or  sampling  errors,  while  possible  misclassification  was  considered  to  have  no 
impact  on  the  quality  of  the  data.  35%  of  the  countries  indicated  that  the  overall  quality  of 
landings statistics has improved since the last quality report 3 years ago. 

More than half of the countries have a quality management system in place. Most improvements 
targeted timeliness, accuracy and reliability.  

2.2.2  Comparability 

In  October  2019,  Eurostat  published  a  handbook  for  catch  and  landings  statistics10,  which  has 
further improved the homogeneity and therefore the comparability of the statistical data between 
countries. The length of the time series – comparability over time – varies between the countries. 
However, for the period covered by this assessment report, data are comparable over time.  

2.3  Relevance 

The  statistical  data  collected  under  the  Regulation  are  essential  for  informed,  evidence-based 
policymaking  at  both  national  and  EU  level.  The  data  on  production  levels  and  trends  are 
important  in  analysing  the  development  of  the  fisheries  sector  as  part  of  the  common  fisheries 
policy  and  provide  policymakers  and  industry  with  solid  foundations  on  which  to  build  the 
sector’s future. 

Landings  statistics  are  widely  used  by  various  data  users.  The  statistical  data  are  an  important 
source for other organisations’ publications and services. The European Market Observatory for 
Fisheries  and  Aquaculture  Products  uses  European  statistics  on  landings  in  compiling  its 
structural analysis of the European fisheries industry. Landing statistics form the basis for other 
data collections11. 

The statistics on the volumes and prices of the fishery products landed on EU territory contribute 
to the Commission’s commitments on market intelligence. The data are essential for following up 
and analysing the EU fishery product markets along the supply chain. 

This  statistical  data  could  also  be  relevant  to  landing  obligation  as  set  out  in  Article  15(1)  of 
Regulation (EU) No 1380/201312 requiring all stocks for which there are catch limits to be landed 
and counted against the relevant quota. 

The Member States declared all user needs to be fully met at national level.  

10   https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/metadata/Annexes/fish_ld_esms_an3.pdf (available only in English). 

11   Commission  Implementing  Decision  (EU)  2019/909  of  18  February  2019  establishing  the  list  of 
mandatory research surveys and thresholds for the purposes of the multiannual Union programme for the 
collection and management of data in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors (OJ L 145, 4.6.2019, p. 21). 

12   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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2.4. Accessibility 

2.4.1. Online database 

Statistical data on landings of fishery products are available in the Eurostat public database13 in 
detailed country tables, as well as in an overall summary table displaying EU and national data at 
a more aggregated level. 

Half of the reporting Member States also publish the data at national level in online databases that 
users can access. 

2.4.2 

Publications and data tables 

Eurostat publishes data and articles concerning statistical data on landings of fishery products 
in its online ‘Statistics Explained’ collection and in statistical books14. Half of the reporting 
countries produced electronic publications. 

2.4.3  Metadata 

Every 3 years the Commission collects national quality reports on which this report is based 
(see footnote 8). The national reports include detailed information on the quality of the data 
and  on  the  methods  used  to  collect  them.  The  national  quality  reports  follow  the  European 
Statistical System (ESS) guidelines and are collected in the ESS Metadata Handler.  

2.5 

Data confidentiality 

There  are  very  few  confidential  variables  in  the  statistical  data  on  landings  of  fishery  products 
transmitted to the Commission. In 2019, three Member States faced confidentiality issues  either 
for  the  quantity  or  the  price  of  the  landed  products.  As  a  result, the  overall volume  landed  and 
value remained confidential for the EU total.  

Eurostat  and  the  Member  States  have  invested  time  and  effort  in  making  as  many  figures  as 
possible  available  to  data  users,  while  safeguarding  statistical  confidentiality  and  keeping  the 
process as efficient as possible. 

3  BURDEN AND COST-EFFECTIVENESS 

The ESS carried out a cost analysis of the process of collecting landing statistics. 23 countries (all 
the countries concerned except Iceland) sent cost estimates in monetary terms and labour force, 
which  were  expressed  in  full-time  equivalent  (FTE).  One  country  could  only  provide  a  total 
figure for statistics on both fishery catch and landings; the cost of landing statistics was estimated 
to account for roughly half of the total cost.  

The  total  direct  and  indirect  costs  for  all  countries  providing  the  figures  was  EUR 2.9  million 
annually. The median cost per country was EUR 16 400. In more than half of the countries, the 
cost was very small, but there are a few countries organising sample surveys with higher costs. In 
total  70  persons  (converted  into  FTEs)  were  working  with  landing  statistics.  The  median  per 

13  

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database (available only in English, French and German). 

14   The  most 

recent 

is 

‘Agriculture, 

forestry 

and 

fishery 

statistics’  — 

2020 

edition 

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/3217494/12069644/KS-FK-20-001-EN-N.pdf/a7439b01-671b-
80ce-85e4-4d803c44340a?t=1608139005821 (available only in English). 

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country  was  0.5  FTEs.    Half  of  the  reporting  Member  States  claimed  they  had  made  gains  in 
efficiency since the last report. One third of them said that they managed to reduce the burden on 
respondents by using more user-friendly questionnaires or easier data transmission methods.  

4  CONCLUSIONS 

Landing statistics are robust in terms of punctuality, completeness and consistency. The countries 
provide reliable information on the volume and value of fishery products landed in the EU and 
very useful detailed data at species level that can be used for analysing the EU fish market. 

Eurostat  reporting  guidelines  and  handbooks  have  made  landing  statistics  more  consistent.  In 
parallel,  measures  taken  by  national  data  providers  resulted  in  better  punctuality  and 
completeness. 

The  total  direct  and  indirect  costs  for  all  countries  providing  figures  amounted  to  EUR 2.9 
million.  The  median  cost  per  country  was  EUR 16  400.  In  more  than  half  of  the  countries,  the 
cost was very small, but there are a few countries organising sample surveys with higher costs. 

5  RECOMMENDATIONS 

Eurostat strives to  continuously  improve the quality and availability of European statistics. It is 
also  committed  to  reducing  the  burden  on  Member  States  and  respondents.  To  this  end,  the 
‘Streamlining and simplifying European fishery statistics’ project looks at current data collection 
and  draws  up a  strategy  for  making  statistical  data  on  landings  of  fishery  products  more  fit  for 
purpose. The project’s first milestone – finalise the evaluation of European fishery statistics – was 
reached in late 2019, when a staff working document was produced on the evaluation15.   

The most important outcome from the evaluation of fisheries statistics for landings is that they are 
a very important and widely used part of  fisheries statistics, but their coverage  does not satisfy 
user needs. The evaluation of fisheries statistics found that users had an important emerging need 
for  landings  statistics  to  cover  total  landings  for  all  fishing  vessels  of  a  country,  landings  of 
EU/EFTA  fishing  vessels  outside  EU/EFTA  territory  and  landings  by  non-EU/EFTA  fishing 
vessels in EU/EFTA territory. 

The  best  solution  for  providing  a  better  service  to  data  users  would  be  to  amend  the  current 
legislation or replace it with new legislation that increases coverage. The Commission is currently 
finalising an impact assessment on the potential options to improve all fisheries statistics: catch, 
landing,  fishing  fleet  and  aquaculture.  New  legislation  could  bring  about  efficiency  gains, 
especially  by  simplifying  the  data  flows  and  aligning  deadlines  with  the  needs  of  other 
international organisations. 

At  national  level,  the  use  of  electronic  questionnaires  should  be  further  encouraged,  as  it  helps 
make data collection more efficient. National data collection guidelines and helpdesks  that offer 
respondents tailor-made support are other examples of good practices.  

15   Staff Working Document (2019) 425 (available only in English).  

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