Council Decision (EU) 2025/1301 of 17 June 2025 establishing the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union in a Specialised Committee established by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part, as regards a decision of that Specialised Committee
Date: 2025-06-17
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EAEC, United Kingdom, cooperation agreement (EU), fishery management, fishing rights, sea fishing, sustainable fisheries, trade agreement, trade agreement (EU), vessel




L_202501301EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
L series













2025/1301


2.7.2025







            COUNCIL DECISION (EU) 2025/1301
         
of 17 June 2025
         
establishing the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union in a Specialised Committee established by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part, as regards a decision of that Specialised Committee


THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 43(2) thereof, in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,


Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:







(1)


The Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part (‘the Trade and Cooperation Agreement’ or ‘the Agreement’) was concluded by the Union by means of Council Decision (EU) 2021/689 (1) and entered into force on 1 May 2021, having been provisionally applied since 1 January 2021.












(2)


The adjustment period provided for Annex 38 to the Agreement, during which each Party grants full access to vessels of the other Party to its waters to fish, ends on 30 June 2026.












(3)


In accordance with Article 500(1) of the Agreement, which applies as of 1 July 2026, each Party is to grant access to vessels of the other Party to fish in its waters in the relevant ICES sub-areas for the relevant year at a level and on conditions determined in the annual consultations, provided that TACs have been agreed.












(4)


The Parties wish to set out arrangements concerning the level and conditions of access from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2038, which are to be considered as the level and conditions of access determined for the purposes of Article 500(1), (4) and (5) of the Agreement and providing full access to waters to fish during that period, including in the event of provisional TACs set pursuant to Article 499 of the Agreement.












(5)


Article 508(2)(d) of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement provides that the Specialised Committee on Fisheries may adopt measures, including decisions and recommendations, in relation to any other aspect of cooperation on sustainable fisheries management under Heading Five of Part Two of the Agreement.












(6)


Pursuant to Decision No 1/2025 of the Partnership Council interpreting Article 508(2)(d) of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the term ‘cooperation on sustainable fisheries management’ in Article 508(2)(d) of the Agreement shall be interpreted as including the adopting of a Decision by the Specialised Committee on Fisheries to provide for multiannual full access to waters to fish for a specified time period which is to be considered for the purposes of Article 500(1) and (4) of the Agreement as the agreed outcome of annual consultations (including in the case of access under Article 500(5) of the Agreement in the event that provisional TACs are set under Article 499 of the Agreement).












(7)


It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf in the Specialised Committee on Fisheries on this matter,





HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:



Article 1
The position to be taken on the Union’s behalf in the Specialised Committee on Fisheries established by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part, as regards the arrangements on the level and conditions of access granted by each Party to vessels of the other Party to fish in its waters, which are to be considered as the level and conditions of access determined for the purposes of Article 500(1), (4) and (5) of the Agreement for the period from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2038, is set out in the draft Decision of the Specialised Committee on Fisheries attached to this Decision.


Article 2
This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.




Done at Luxembourg, 17 June 2025.


For the Council


The President

P. HENNIG-KLOSKA
            





(1)  Council Decision (EU) 2021/689 of 29 April 2021 on the conclusion, on behalf of the Union, of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part, and of the Agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning security procedures for exchanging and protecting classified information (OJ L 149, 30.4.2021, p. 2, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2021/689/oj).





DRAFT
DECISION No … OF THE SPECIALISED COMMITTEE ON FISHERIES ESTABLISHED BY ARTICLE 8(1)(Q) OF THE TRADE AND COOPERATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE EUROPEAN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMUNITY, OF THE ONE PART, AND THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND, OF THE OTHER PART
of …
as regards the arrangements on the level and conditions of access granted by each Party to vessels of the other Party to fish in its waters from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2038
         


THE SPECIALISED COMMITTEE ON FISHERIES,

Having regard to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part (‘the Agreement’), and in particular Article 508(2)(d) thereof and the decision of the Partnership Council dated … interpreting that Article,

Whereas:







(1)


The adjustment period provided for in Annex 38 to the Agreement, during which each Party grants to vessels of the other Party full access to its waters to fish, ends on 30 June 2026.












(2)


In accordance with Article 500(1) of the Agreement, which applies after 30 June 2026, each Party is to grant vessels of the other Party access to fish in its waters in the relevant ICES sub-areas for the relevant year at a level and on conditions determined in the annual consultations, provided that TACs have been agreed.












(3)


The Parties agree to set out arrangements concerning the level and conditions of access from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2038, which are to be considered as the level and conditions of access determined for the purposes of Article 500(1), (4) and (5) of the Agreement to provide multiannual access to each other’s waters to fish during that period, including in the event of provisional TACs set pursuant to Article 499 of the Agreement.












(4)


The respective shares of the Parties set out in Annexes 35 and 36 for 2026 onwards and the provisions of Annex 37 of the Agreement are not affected by this Decision.












(5)


In the Common Understanding of 19 May 2025, the European Commission and the United Kingdom noted the political agreement leading to full reciprocal access to waters to fish until 30 June 2038,





HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:



Article 1
This Decision sets out the arrangements on the level and conditions of access granted by each Party to vessels of the other Party to fish in its waters, which are to be considered as the level and conditions of access determined for the purposes of Article 500(1), (4) and (5) of the Agreement. For greater certainty, Article 500(2) of the Agreement is unaffected by this Decision.


Article 2

1.   Provided that TACs have been agreed, each Party shall grant vessels of the other Party:






(a)


full access to fish the stocks listed in Annex 35 and tables A, B and F of Annex 36 of the Agreement in each other’s EEZ and in the waters of the Parties between six and twelve nautical miles from the baselines in ICES divisions 4c and 7d-g at a level that is reasonably commensurate with the Parties’ respective shares of the TACs;










(b)


full access to fish the non-quota stocks in each other’s EEZ and in the waters of the Parties between six and twelve nautical miles from the baselines in ICES divisions 4c and 7d-g at a level that at least equates to the average tonnage fished by that Party in the waters of the other Party during the period 2012-2016.




For the purposes of points (a) and (b), full access to fish between six and twelve nautical miles from the baselines in ICES divisions 4c and 7d-g applies for qualifying vessels to the extent that each Party’s qualifying vessels had access to those waters on 31 December 2020. ‘Qualifying vessel’ shall have the same meaning as ‘qualifying vessel’ in Article 500(4) as defined for the purposes of Article 500(4)(c).


2.   The access set out in point (a) of paragraph 1 shall also be granted where a stock listed in Annex 35 or in tables A and B of Annex 36 remains without an agreed TAC on 20 December of any given year and each Party has set a provisional TAC pursuant to Article 499 of the Agreement. The same shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to the access set out in point (b) of paragraph 1 to fish non-quota stocks.


3.   The arrangements set out in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not include financial commitments and quota transfers between the Parties.



Article 3
The Parties may, for reasons of transparency, incorporate the arrangements set out in Article 2 in the Written Records of the annual fisheries consultations referred to in Article 498(6) of the Agreement.


Article 4
This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.
It shall apply from 1 July 2026. It shall cease to apply on 30 June 2038 unless the Specialised Committee on Fisheries adopts a decision to extend it.




Done at Brussels, …


For the Specialised Committee on Fisheries


The Co-Chairs


Eva María CARBALLEIRA FERNANDEZ
               


Mike DOWELL
               







ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2025/1301/oj
ISSN 1977-0677 (electronic edition)