Decision No 1/2025 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 19 June 2025 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 [2025/1231]
Date: 2025-06-19
Institutions: EU–United Kingdom Joint Committee
Subjects: EAEC, United Kingdom, cooperation agreement (EU), fishery management, fishing rights, sea fishing, sustainable fisheries, trade agreement, trade agreement (EU), vessel




L_202501231EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
L series













2025/1231


20.6.2025







            DECISION No 1/2025 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 19 June 2025
         
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 [2025/1231]


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 18 June 2025 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 and London, 19 June 2025.


For the Specialised Committee on Fisheries


The Co-Chairs

Eva María CARBALLEIRA FERNANDEZ
            
Mike DOWELL
            





ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2025/1231/oj
ISSN 1977-0677 (electronic edition)