REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL in respect of the delegation of powers referred to in Regulation (EU) 2019/833 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2019 laying down conservation and enforcement measures applicable in the Regulatory Area of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation, amending Regulation (EU) 2016/1627 and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2115/2005 and (EC) No 1386/2007
Date: 2023-09-11
Institutions: Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, European Commission
Subjects: Atlantic Ocean, European Commission, North-West Atlantic Fisheries Organisation, conservation of fish stocks, delegated legislation, fishing area, fishing regulations, international convention, powers of the institutions (EU), sea fishing, transfer of competence

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 11.9.2023  COM(2023) 518 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL in respect of the delegation of powers referred to in Regulation (EU) 2019/833 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2019 laying down conservation and enforcement measures applicable in the Regulatory Area of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation, amending Regulation (EU) 2016/1627 and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2115/2005 and (EC) No 1386/2007  
 
 
1.  INTRODUCTION 

Regulation  (EU)  2019/8331  implements  into  Union  law  conservation  and  enforcement 
measures applicable in the Regulatory Area of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation 
(NAFO). 

To achieve the objectives of Regulation (EU) 2019/833 and given that certain provisions of the 
NAFO  conservation  and  enforcement  measures  (CEM)  are  amended  frequently  by  NAFO 
Contracting Parties, the Commission has delegated powers to adopt acts under Article 290 of 
the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) on a number of technical control 
measures, as specified below. 

2.  LEGAL BASIS 

This report is required under Article 51(2) of Regulation (EU) 2019/833. This article delegates 
the powers to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 50 of Regulation (EU) 2019/833 for 
five years from 17 June 2019. The Commission is required to prepare a report on how it has 
exercised these delegated powers no later than nine months before the end of the five years. 
The  delegated  powers  are  then  tacitly  extended  for  further  five-year  periods,  unless  the 
European Parliament or the Council objects, under Article 51(3) of Regulation 2019/833. 

Article 50 of Regulation 2019/833 gives the Commission powers to adopt delegated acts on: 

a)  supplementing the Regulation with the provisions of and Annexes to the CEM referred 

to in the Annex to the Regulation; 

b)  the list of activities of research vessels referred to in Article 4(1); 
c)  measures provided for in Article 9 relating to Northern prawn fishing areas; relevant 
reporting, change of fishery, fishing depths and references to restricted or closed areas; 
d)  procedures  concerning  vessels  with  more  than  50  tonnes  live  weight  total  catch  on 
board, entering the Regulatory Area to fish for Greenland halibut as regards the content 
of notifications provided for in Article 10(2)(a) and (b), conditions for commencement 
of  fishing  provided  for  in  Article 10(2),  point  (d),  and  provisions  on  landing  and 
inspection concerning Greenland halibut provided for in Article 10(1)(e); 

e)  the  content  of  the  electronic  transmission  set  out  in  Article 22(5),  the  list  of  valid 
documents  to  be  carried  on  board  a  vessel  in  accordance  with  Article 22(8)  and  the 
content of the capacity plan described in Article 22(10); 

f)  documentation  to  be  carried  on  board  a  chartered  vessel  in  accordance  with 

Article 23(9); 

g)  the  VMS  data  to  be  transmitted  by  automatic  continuous  transmission  as  set  out  in 
Article 26(1), as well as duties concerning FMC as set out in Article 26(2) and (9); 

1  Regulation  (EU)  2019/833  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  20 May  2019  laying  down 
conservation and enforcement measures applicable in the Regulatory Area of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries 
Organisation, amending Regulation (EU) 2016/1627 and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2115/2005 and 
(EC) No 1386/2007 (OJ L 141, 28 May 2019, p. 1). As amended by Regulation (EU) 2021/1231 and Regulation 
(EU) 2022/2037. 

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h)  percentage rates for observer coverage as set out in Article 27(3), reporting by Member 
States as set out in Article 27(7), duties of an observer as set out in Article 27(11), and 
duties of the master of the vessel as set out in in Article 27(12); 

i)  obligations of the master of the vessel during inspection, as set out in Article 32; 
j)  mesh sizes set out in Article 13(2); 
k)  technical specifications for sorting grids, grates and toggle chains in the Northern prawn 
fishery set out in Article 14(2) as well as technical specifications for sorting grids or 
attachments set out in Article 14(3) or (3a); 

l)  area or period restrictions for bottom fishing activities set out in Article 18; 
m)  control measures for cod in Division 3M as provided for in Article 9a. 

3.  EXERCISE OF THE DELEGATION OF POWERS 

The Commission submitted all draft delegated acts based on the empowerments included in 
Regulation (EU) 2019/833 to the Expert Group for Fisheries and Aquaculture, which was set 
up to provide expert advice on the preparation of delegated acts. The European Parliament has 
been systematically invited to the meetings of this Expert Group. The Commission sent the 
meeting  documents  simultaneously  to  both  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council,  as 
required  in  the  Common  Understanding  on  delegated  acts.  After  adoption,  it  notified  all 
delegated acts to the European Parliament and the Council. 

To date, the European Parliament and Council have not objected to any delegated act adopted 
by the Commission under Regulation (EU) 2019/833 within two months, as provided for in 
Article 51(6) of Regulation 2019/833. In some cases, the European Parliament requested  an 
extension of the deadline for an additional two months. 

4.  LIST  OF  DELEGATED  ACTS  ADOPTED  UNDER  REGULATION  (EU) 

20198/833 

Below is a list of all delegated acts adopted by the Commission since the entry into force of 
Regulation (EU) 2019/833. The list reflects the state of play as at 1 September 2023. 

1.  Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/124 of 15 October 2019 supplementing 
Regulation (EU) 2019/833 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down 
conservation  and  enforcement  measures  applicable  in  the  Regulatory  Area  of  the 
Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation2; 

2.  Commission  Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  2020/989  of  27 April  2020  amending 
Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/124 as regards certain provisions of, and Annexes to, 
the  conservation  and  enforcement  measures  of  the  Northwest  Atlantic  Fisheries 
Organisation (NAFO)3; 

2 OJ L 34, 6.2.2020, p. 1. 
3 OJ L 221, 10.7.2020, p. 5. 

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3.  Commission  Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  2021/860  of  23 March  2021  amending 
Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  2020/124  as  regards  Annex  to  the  conservation  and 
enforcement measures of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO)4; 
4.  Commission  Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  2022/1281  of  4 March  2022  amending 
Regulation  (EU)  2019/833  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council,  and 
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/124 as regards certain provisions of, and 
Annexes  to,  the  conservation  and  enforcement  measures  of  the  Northwest  Atlantic 
Fisheries Organisation (NAFO)5; 

5.  Commission  Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  2023/1090  of  24 January  2023  amending 
Regulation  (EU)  2019/833  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council,  and 
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU)2020/124 as regards certain provisions of the 
conservation  and  enforcement  measures  of  the  Northwest  Atlantic  Fisheries 
Organisation (NAFO)6. 

5.  CONCLUSION 

Over the past five years, the Commission has exercised the delegated powers conferred to it 
under Regulation (EU) 2019/833. The Commission sees the need to extend this empowerment 
because  NAFO  conservation  and  enforcement  measures  change  annually  and  subsequent 
changes need to be implemented into EU law. 

With  this  report,  the  Commission  meets  the  reporting  requirement  under  Article 51(2)  of 
Regulation (EU) 2019/833. It invites the European Parliament and the Council to take note of 
this report. 

4 OJ L 190, 31.5.2021, p. 19. 
5 OJ L 195, 22.7.2022 p. 21. 
6 OJ L 146, 6.6.2023, p. 3. 

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