REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the exercise of the power to adopt delegated acts conferred on the Commission under Regulation (EC) No 216/2009 on the submission of nominal catch statistics by Member States fishing in certain areas other than those of the North Atlantic, Regulation (EC) No 217/2009 on the submission of catch and activity statistics by Member States fishing in the north-west Atlantic and Regulation (EC) No 218/2009 on the submission of nominal catch statistics by Member States fishing in the north-east Atlantic
Date: 2023-03-24
Institutions: European Commission, Eurostat
Subjects: Atlantic Ocean, EU statistics, European Commission, catch of fish, data collection, delegated legislation, fishing area, fishing statistics, powers of the institutions (EU), sea fishing

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 24.3.2023  COM(2023) 163 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the exercise of the power to adopt delegated acts conferred on the Commission under Regulation (EC) No 216/2009 on the submission of nominal catch statistics by Member States fishing in certain areas other than those of the North Atlantic, Regulation (EC) No 217/2009 on the submission of catch and activity statistics by Member States fishing in the north-west Atlantic and Regulation (EC) No 218/2009 on the submission of nominal catch statistics by Member States fishing in the north-east Atlantic  
 
 
1. 

BACKGROUND 

Regulation  (EC)  No 216/2009  of  11 March  2009  on  the  submission  of  nominal  catch 
statistics  by  Member  States  fishing  in  certain  areas  other  than  those  of  the  North  Atlantic1, 
Regulation  (EC)  No 217/2009  of  11 March  2009  on  the  submission  of  catch  and  activity 
statistics  by  Member  States  fishing  in  the  north-west  Atlantic2  and  Regulation  (EC) 
No 218/2009  of  11 March  2009  on  the  submission  of  nominal  catch  statistics  by  Member 
States fishing in the north-east Atlantic3 were modified by Regulation (EU) No 1350/2013 of 
11 December 2013  amending  certain  legislative  acts  in  the  field  of  agricultural  and  fishery 
statistics4 to align implementing powers with the Treaty on the Functioning of the European 
Union. 

The  Commission  is  authorised  to  adopt  delegated  acts  to  take  account  of  economic  and 
technical developments. Such delegated acts may amend: 

• 

• 

• 

the lists of statistical fishing areas or their subdivisions set out in Annexes I, II and III 
of  Regulation  (EC)  No 216/2009,  and  in  Annexes  II  and  III  of  Regulations  (EC) 
No 217/2009 and (EC) No 218/2009; 

the list of species set out in Annex IV of Regulation (EC) No 216/2009 and in Annex I 
of Regulations (EC) No 217/2009 and (EC) No 218/2009, and 

the measures, codes and definitions applied to fishing activity, fishing gear, vessel sizes 
and fishing methods set out in Annex IV of Regulation (EC) No 217/2009. 

Under  Article 5  of  Regulations  (EC)  No 216/2009  and  (EC)  No 218/2009,  and  Article 6  of 
Regulation  (EC) No 217/2009,  the Commission has the power to  adopt  such delegated acts 
for  a  period  of  5  years,  from  10 January  2014.  This  power  was  tacitly  renewed  until 
10 January 2024 in 20195. 

The power is to be tacitly extended by periods of 5 years unless the European Parliament or 
the Council object. 

The Commission  is  obliged to  draw up  a report  on the delegation of power no later than  9 
months before the end of the 5-year period. This report fulfils that obligation. 

2. 

COMMISSION  EXERCISE  OF  DELEGATED  POWERS  UNDER  REGULATION  (EC) 
NO 216/2009, (EC) NO 217/2009 AND (EC) NO 218/2009 

The Commission has not yet exercised the power to adopt delegated acts conferred on it by 
Regulations (EC) No 216/2009, 217/2009 and 218/2009. 
The  Commission  evaluated  the  European  fisheries  statistics6  in  20197  and  carried  out  an 
impact assessment in 2021. In light of the impact assessment, the results of the consultation 
activities, and discussions with stakeholders, the preferred option is a new streamlined legal 

1  OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 1 
2  OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 42 
3  OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 70 
4  OJ L 351, 21.12.2013, p.1 
5  COM(2018) 16 final    
6  European Fisheries statistics cover catch, landing and aquaculture statistics. 
7 

SWD(2019) 425 final. 

1 

 
 
                                                           
framework  for  European  fishery  statistics  covering  catches,  landings,  fishing  fleet  and 
aquaculture statistics. 

3. 

CONCLUSIONS 

The Commission has not yet exercised the power to adopt delegated acts conferred on it  by 
Regulation  (EC)  No 216/2009,  Regulation  (EC)  No 217/2009  and  Regulation  (EC) 
No 218/2009. 

The Commission considers that it should continue to have these delegated powers, as it may 
need to adopt a delegated act to modify Annexes I-IV to the above-mentioned Regulations to 
meet the needs of data users in light of the future common fisheries policy. 

2