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# 52013PC0245

**Amended proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund [repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006 and Council Regulation(EC) No 861/2006 and Council Regulation No XXX/2011 on integrated maritime policy] /\* COM/2013/0245 final - 2011/0380 (COD) \*/**

  

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1.           CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL

The Commission adopted on December 2nd 2011
a proposal for a "REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund [repealing Council Regulation (EC)
No 1198/2006 and Council Regulation(EC) No 861/2006 and Council Regulation No
XXX/2011 on integrated maritime policy]" (EMFF)

The Commission presented its proposals for
a regulation laying down common provisions on the ERDF, the ESF, the CF, the
EAFRD and the EMFF and general provisions on cohesion policy funds on 6 October
2011 (COM(2011) 615 final).

The initial Commission's proposal for the
EMFF Regulation aligned the management and control system for the EMFF with the
arrangements proposed for the EAFRD. This was proposed mainly for the reason
that the authorities managing the EAFRD and EMFF are often the same and would
benefit from harmonised arrangements for these two funds.

During the examination of the EMFF proposal
in the Fisheries Working Group in the Council, a number of Member States have
expressed reservations as regards the shift to the system proposed by the
Commission for management and control and for financial management. In the
previous (2000-2006) and the current (2007-2013) programming periods the
delivery system of the EMFF was aligned with arrangements set up under cohesion
policy and Member States consider that the highest degree of continuity should
be ensured. They have expressed a view that continuing with such arrangements
would enable to make the best use of the expertise gained by national
authorities currently involved in the management of EU funds for fisheries.

Although a majority of Member States have
indicated that they prefer alignment of the EMFF with the delivery system for
cohesion policy, they have also highlighted the need to take into account the
principle of proportionality (CPR Article 4(5)). The fisheries operational
programmes, in most of the cases, are smaller than those under cohesion policy
and also have specific features to ensure that the EMFF contributes to the
reform of the Common Fisheries Policy.

In order to facilitate the already on-going
negotiations in the Council and the European Parliament, the Commission
proposes a simultaneous amendment of the Commission proposals for the Common
Provisions Regulation and of the EMFF Regulation to ensure simple and
streamlined integration of the EMFF into an already existing set of rules for
cohesion policy.

A close alignment of EMFF delivery systems
with those proposed for cohesion policy in the manner proposed will contribute
to harmonisation and consistency of rules across these different Funds (ERDF,
ESF, CF and EMFF). It builds on the experience attained in previous programming
periods and facilitates a smooth transition from one programming period to the
next.

2.           RESULTS OF CONSULTATIONS
WITH THE INTERESTED PARTIES AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS

The Commission proposal amending the Common
Provisions Regulation and the EMFF Regulation has been preceded by throrough
discussions on the delivery arrangements of the EMFF in the Fisheries Working
Party of the Council and bilateral contacts with the Member States.

An Impact Assessment has been carried out
for the original legislative proposals.

3.           LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE
PROPOSAL

The proposal involves a parallel amendment
of the Commission proposals for the Common Provisions Regulation and of the
EMFF Regulation:

•           the EMFF is integrated in the
relevant provisions in the Common Provisions Regulation which were initially
specific to cohesion policy, creating a new Part Four of the Common Provisions
Regulation which applies to cohesion policy and to the EMFF;

•           Respective provisions (which
correspond to the delivery arrangements of the EAFRD or overlap with the
articles of the Common Provisions Regulations in its amended form) are deleted
from the EMFF Regulation and appropriate references to the CPR are introduced
in the EMFF Regulation, where necessary.

Recitals and definitions are aligned with
the changes to the articles and amendment of the structure of the regulations.
The terminology used in the new Part Four is adjusted to accommodate the
specificities of the EMFF and in certain instances it is clarified that the
Fund-specific rules under the EMFF may set out complementary rules.

4.           BUDGETARY IMPLICATION

The amended proposal will have no budgetary
implications. The availability of new data and macro-economic forecasts as well
as the accession of the Republic of Croatia results however in changes of the
EMFF envelope.

These modifications are without prejudice
to the on-going negotiations on the MFF Regulation and the Financial Regulation.

5.           SUMMARY OF AMENDMENTS

As regards the EMFF Regulation, the
amendment concerns recitals 86, 89, 101, 103, 104 and deletion of recitals 91,
93, 94 and 97. It includes amendments to Articles 3, 12, 14, 20, 24, 25, 28,
33, 37, 38, 39, 45, 46, 54, 56, 61, 62, 63, 64, 67, 75, 78, 92, 94, 95, 102, 103,
105, 108, 117, 118, 119, 120, 122, 126, 128, 129, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135,
1369, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142,143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150,151,
152, 153, 154 and deletion of Articles 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 104, 106, 107,
109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 121, 123, 124, 125, 127 and 130.

As regards the Common Provisions
Regulation, the amendment concerns recitals 3, 75, 78, 80, 84 and 87. It also
introduces changes in Article 1 and Article 3 to clearly set out the
applicability of each Part of the Common Provisions Regulation as regards each
of the Funds (ERDF, ESF, CF, EMFF and EAFRD). It has required limited
adjustment of definitions set out under paragraphs (5), (7), (25) and (26) of
Article 2 in order to replace references to Part Three with references to Part
Four.

It includes amendments to Articles 55 (7), 64
(6), 74 (1), 112 (3), 113 (5), 114 (3) (b) and (g), 117 (4), 120, 121 (1), 124,
126 (4), 128, 130 (1), 131 (1), 133(1), 134 (1), 135, 136, 137 and 140 (1).

2011/0380 (COD)

Amended proposal for a

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
AND OF THE COUNCIL

on the European Maritime and Fisheries
Fund [repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006 and Council Regulation(EC)
No 861/2006 and Council Regulation No XXX/2011 on integrated maritime policy]

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE
COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the
Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article
42, Article 43(2), Article 91(1), Article 100(2), Article 173(3), Article 175,
Article 188, Article 192(1), Article 194(2) and Article 195(2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European
Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative
act to the national Parliaments,

Having regard to the opinion of the
European Economic and Social Committee[1],

Having regard to the opinion of the
Committee of the Regions[2],

Acting in accordance with the ordinary
legislative procedure,

Whereas:

(1)       The Communication from the
Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and
Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the "Reform of the
Common Fisheries Policy" (hereinafter "the CFP Communication")
set out potential challenges, objectives and orientations for the Common
Fisheries Policy (hereinafter "the CFP") after 2013. In the light of
the debate on that Communication, the CFP should be reformed with effect from 1
January 2014. That reform should cover all the main elements of the CFP,
including its financial aspects. In order to address the objectives of the
reform, it is appropriate to repeal Council Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006 on the
European Fisheries Fund[3],
Regulation (EC) No 861/2006 establishing Community financial measures for the
implementation of the Common Fisheries Policy and in the area of the Law of the
Sea[4], the provisions of Regulation
(EC) No 1290/2005 Guarantee Fund concerning the fishery and aquaculture
products[5],
Regulation (EC) No 791/2007 introducing a scheme to compensate for the
additional costs incurred in the marketing of certain fishery products from the
Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands and the French departments of Guiana and
Réunion, as a result of those regions' remoteness[6] and to
replace them with a new Regulation on the European Maritime Fisheries Fund
(EMFF). Recognizing that all matters related to Europe's oceans and seas are
interlinked, the new Regulation should also support the further development of
the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) covered in [Regulation of the European
Parliament and of the Council establishing a Programme to support the further
development of an Integrated Maritime Policy].

(2)       The scope of the EMFF should
cover the support of the CFP which extends to conservation, management and
exploitation of marine biological resources, fresh water biological resources
and- aquaculture, as well as to the processing and marketing of fishery and
aquaculture products, where such activities take place on the territory of
Member States, or in Union waters, including by fishing vessels flying the flag
of, and registered in, third countries, or by Union fishing vessels, or by
nationals of Member States, without prejudice to the primary responsibility of
the flag State, bearing in mind the provisions of Article 117 of the United
Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

(3)       The success of the Common
Fisheries Policy depends on an effective system of control, inspection and enforcement
as well as on reliable complete data, both for
scientific advice and for implementation and control purposes; therefore the
EMFF should support these policies.

(4)       The scope of the EMFF
should cover the support to the IMP which extends to the development and implementation of coordinated operations and
decision-making in relation to the oceans, seas, coastal regions and maritime
sectors complementing the different EU policies that touch upon them, notably
the Common Fisheries Policies, transport, industry, territorial cohesion,
environment, energy and tourism. Coherence and
integration should be ensured in the management of different sectoral policies
within the Baltic Sea, North Sea, Celtic Seas, Bay of Biscay and the Iberian
Coast, Mediterranean and Black Sea sea basins.

(5)       In line with the
conclusions of the European Council of 17 June 2010, whereby the Europe 2020
Strategy was adopted, the Union and Member States should implement the delivery
of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, while promoting harmonious
development of the Union. In particular, resources should be concentrated to
meet the Europe 2020 objectives and targets and effectiveness should be
improved by an increased focus on results. The inclusion of the IMP in the new
EMFF also contribute to the major policy objectives set out in the
Communication from the Commission of 3 March 2010 "Europe 2020 - A
strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth"[7]
("Europe 2020 Strategy") and is in line with the general objectives
to increase economic, social and territorial cohesion set out in the Treaty.

(6)       To ensure that the EMFF
contributes to the achievement of the objectives of the CFP, the IMP and the
Europe 2020 Strategy, it is necessary to focus on a limited number of core
priorities relating to fostering innovation and knowledge based fisheries and
aquaculture, promoting sustainable and resource-efficient fishing and
aquaculture, and increasing employment and territorial cohesion by unlocking
the growth and job potential of coastal and inland fisheries communities and
promoting diversification of fisheries activities into other sectors of the
marine economy.

(7)       The Union should at all
stages of implementation of the Fund, aim at eliminating inequalities and
promoting equality between men and women, as well as combating discrimination
based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or
sexual orientation.

(8)       The overall objective of
the Common Fisheries Policy is to ensure that fishing and aquaculture activities
contribute to long-term sustainable environmental conditions which are
necessary for economic and social development. It should contribute moreover to
increased productivity, a fair standard of living for the fisheries sector,
stable markets, ensure the availability of resources and that supplies reach
consumers at reasonable prices.

(9)       It is paramount to better
integrate environmental concerns into the CFP which should deliver on the
objectives and targets of the Union's environmental policy and the Europe 2020
Strategy. The CFP is aimed at an exploitation of living marine biological
resources that restores and maintains fish stocks at levels which can produce
the maximum sustainable yield, not later than 2015. The CFP shall implement the
precautionary and eco-system approaches to fisheries management. Consequently
the EMFF should contribute to the protection of the marine environment as set
out in the Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of
17 June 2008 establishing a framework for community action in the field of
marine environmental policy (Marine Strategy Framework Directive)[8].

(10)     Since the objectives of
this Regulation cannot be sufficiently achieved by the
Member States given the scale and effects of the
operations to be financed under the operational programmes and the structural problems encountered in the development of the
fisheries and maritime sectors as well as the limited financial resources of
the Member States, these objectives can therefore be better achieved at Union level by providing multi-annual financial
assistance focused on the relevant priorities, the Union may adopt measures, in
accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5(3) of the
Treaty on the European Union. In accordance with the
principle of proportionality as set out in Article 5(4) of that Treaty, this
Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that
objective.

(11)     The financing of the Common
Fisheries Policy and Maritime Integrated Policy expenditure through a single
fund, the EMFF, should address the need for simplification as well as
strengthening the integration of both policies. The extension of shared
management to Common Markets Organisations including the compensation for the
outermost regions, control and data collection activities should further
contribute to simplification and reduce the administrative burden both for the
Commission and the Member States as well as achieve greater coherence and efficiency of the
support granted.

(12)     The Union budget should
finance the Common Fisheries Policy and the Integrated Maritime Policy
expenditure through a single fund, the EFMF, either directly or in the context
of shared management with the Member States. Shared management with the Member
States should apply not only to measures to support fisheries, aquaculture and
community-led local development but also to Common Markets Organisations and
the compensation for the outermost regions, control and data collection
activities. Direct management should apply to scientific advice, voluntary
contributions to Regional Fisheries Management Organisations, advisory councils
and operations for the implementation of an Integrated Maritime Policy. The
types of measures that can be financed using the EMFF should be specified.

(13)     It is necessary to
distinguish between control and enforcement measure categories being
co-financed within the framework of shared management and those within the
framework of direct management. It is crucial to ring-fence the resources to be
allocated to control under shared management.

(14)     According to Articles 50
and 51 of the [Regulation on the Common Fisheries Policy] (hereinafter CFP
Regulation) Union financial assistance under EMFF should be made conditional
upon compliance by Member States as well as by operators with the rules of the
CFP. This conditionality is intended to reflect the responsibility of the Union
to ensure, in public interest, conservation of marine biological resources
under the CFP, as enshrined in Article 3 of the TFEU.

(15)     The achievement of the
objectives of the CFP would be undermined if Union financial assistance under
EMFF is disbursed to operators who, ex-ante, do not comply with
requirements related to the public interest of conservation of marine
biological resources. Therefore only operators should be admissible who, within
a particular period of time before lodging an application for aid, were not
involved in the operation, management or ownership of fishing vessels included
in the Union IUU vessel list as set out in Article 40(3) of Council Regulation
(EC) No 1005/2008 of 29 September 2008 establishing a Community system to
prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing,
amending Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93, (EC) No 1936/2001 and (EC) No 601/2004
and repealing Regulations (EC) No 1093/94 and (EC) No 1447/1999[9], and who have not committed a
serious infringement under 42 of the Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 or Article
90(1) of the 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) 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[10]. or other cases of
non-compliance with CFP rules which particularly jeopardise the sustainability
of the stocks concerned and constitute a serious threats to the sustainable
exploitation of living marine biological resources that restores and maintains
populations of harvested species above levels which can produce the Maximum
Sustainable Yield (hereinafter MSY).

(16)     In addition, the
beneficiaries should continue to comply with requirements related to the public
interest of conservation of marine biological resources after lodging the aid
application, during the whole period of implementation of operation and, for
certain types of operation, also for an identified period of time after the
last payment. Support disbursed to or retained by beneficiaries who do not
respect the requirements related to the public interest of conservation of
marine biological resources might be possibly linked to infringements and thus
might jeopardize the achievements of the objectives of the CFP.

(17)     The consequences laid down
for the failure to fulfil the eligibility conditions should apply in case of
infringements of the CFP rules by the beneficiaries. In order to determine the
amount of ineligible expenditure, the gravity of the non compliance by the
beneficiary with CFP rules, the economic advantage derived from the
non-compliance with CFP rules or the importance of the EMFF contribution to the
economic activity of the beneficiary should be taken into account.

(18)     The achievement of the
objectives of the CFP would also be undermined if Union financial assistance
under EMFF is paid to Member States who do not comply with their obligations
under the CFP rules related to the public interest of conservation of marine
biological resources, such as collecting data and implementing the control
obligations. Moreover, without complying with those obligations there is a risk
that inadmissible beneficiaries or ineligible operations are not detected by
the Member States.

(19)     As precautionary measures,
in order to prevent that non compliant payments take place as well as
incentivise the Member State to comply with CFP rules or require compliance by
the beneficiary, interruption of the payment deadline and suspension of
payments, which are timely limited in their scope of application, should both
be used. In order to respect the principle of proportionality, the financial
corrections which have definite and irrevocable consequences should only apply
to expenditure directly linked to operations during which the cases of
non-compliance with CFP rules have been committed.

(20)     In order to improve
coordination and harmonise implementation of the Funds providing support under
the cohesion policy, namely the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the
European Social Fund (ESF) and the Cohesion Fund (CF), with the Funds for rural
development, namely the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development
(EAFRD), and for the maritime and fisheries sector, namely the European
Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), common provisions have been established for
all these Funds (the 'CSF Funds') in the [Regulation
(EU) No […] laying down Common Provisions][11]. In addition to this
Regulation, the EMFF contains specific provisions due to the particularities of
the CFP and the IMP.

(21)     Taking into account the
size of the future EMFF and in the light of the principle of proportionality,
the provisions relating to the strategic planning have been derogated from the
Regulation [on Common Provisions], henceforth the consultation of the
stakeholders should take place at least twice during the programming period
however not obligatory once each year as it would constitute a excessive
administrative and financial burden both for the Commission and the Member
States.

(22)     Action by the Union should be
complementary to action carried out by Member States or seek to contribute to
that action. In order to ensure significant added value the partnership between the Commission and Member States should be
strengthened through arrangements for the participation of various types of
partners with full regard to the institutional competences of the Member
States. Particular attention should be paid to ensuring adequate representation
for women and minority groups. This partnership concerns
regional, local and other public authorities, as well as other appropriate
bodies, including those responsible for the environment and for the promotion
of equality between men and women, the economic and social partners and other
competent bodies. The partners concerned should be
involved in the preparation of Partnership Contracts, as well as in the
preparation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programming.

(23)     According to the principle
of proportionality, the means employed by the Commission and Member States may
vary according to the total amount of public expenditure allocated to the
operational programme. Such variation should apply in particular to the means
used for evaluation, control, and reporting on implementation of operational
programmes;

(24)     The Commission should
establish an annual breakdown by Member States of available commitment
appropriations using objective and transparent criteria; these criteria should
include the historical allocations under Council Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006
and the historical consumption under Council Regulation No 861/2006.

(25)     The fulfilment of certain
ex-ante conditionalities is of outmost importance in the context of the CFP,
especially as regards the submission of a Multiannual National Strategy Plan on
Aquaculture and proven administrative capacity to comply with the data
requirements for fisheries management and to enforce with the implementation of
a Union control, inspection and enforcement system.

(26)     In line with the goal of
simplification, all activities of the EMFF which fall under shared management,
including control and data collection, should take the form of one single
operational programme per Member State, in accordance with its national
structure. The programming exercise shall cover the period from 1 January 2014
to 31 December 2020. Each Member State should prepare a
single operational programme. Each programme should identify a strategy for
meeting targets in relation to the Union priorities for the EMFF and a
selection of measures. Programming should comply with Union priorities, while
being adapted to national contexts and complement the other Union policies, in
particular rural development policy and cohesion policy.

(27)     In order to contribute to
the goal of simplification in the implementation of the EMFF and to reduce the
costs of control and the error rate, Member States should make use as much as
possible of the possibility offered in the [Regulation laying down Common
Provisions] to use lump sums and other simplified forms of grant.

(28)     For the purpose of
enforcing control obligations under the CFP, Member States should draw up the
section on control of the Operational Programme in line with the priorities of
the Union adopted by the Commission for this policy area. In order to adjust
the operational programme to the evolving needs in terms of control and
enforcement; the control section of the operational programmes may be reviewed
regularly on the basis of the changes in the priorities of the Union in the
control and enforcement policy under CFP. These amendments should be approved
by the Commission.

(29)     In order to keep
flexibility in the programming of activities in the field of control, the
revision of the section of the operational programme concerning control should
be subject to a simplified procedure.

(30)     Member States should draw
up the section on data collection of the Operational Programme in line with a
Multiannual Union programme; In order to adapt to the specific needs of data
collection activities, Member States should elaborate annual work plan which
should adapted annually under the guidance of the Commission and which should
subject to its approval.

(31)     In order to increase the
competitiveness and economic performance of fishing activities it is vital to
stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship. Therefore the EMFF should support
innovative operations and business development.

(32)     Investment in human capital
is also vital to increase the competitiveness and economic performance of
fishing and maritime activities. Therefore, the EMFF should support lifelong learning,
co-operation between scientists and fishermen stimulating the dissemination of
knowledge as well as for advisory services helping to improve the overall
performance and competitiveness of operators.

(33)     Recognising the importance
of the role that spouses of self-employed fishermen play in small scale coastal
fishing, the EMFF should support training and networking contributing to their
professional development and giving them the means to better fulfil the ancillary
tasks they traditionally perform.

(34)     Conscious of the weak
presence of small scale coastal fishermen in the social dialogue, the EMFF
should support organisations promoting this dialogue in the appropriate fora.

(35)     Conscious of the potential
that diversification offers for small scale coastal fishermen and their crucial
role in coastal communities, the EMFF should help diversification by covering
business start-ups and investments for the retrofitting of their vessels, in
addition to the relevant training to acquire professional skills in the
relevant field outside fishing activities.

(36)     In order to address health
and safety needs on board, the EMFF should support investments covering safety
and hygiene on board.

(37)     As a result of the
establishment of systems of transferable fishing concessions envisaged in
Article 27 of the [CFP Regulation] and in order to support Member States in the
implementation of these new systems, the EMFF should grant support in terms of
capacity building and exchange of best practices.

(38)     The introduction of the
transferable fishing concessions systems should make the sector more
competitive. Consequently, there may be a need for new professional
opportunities outside the fishing activities. Therefore, the EMFF should
support the diversification and job creation in fishing communities in
particular by supporting business start-ups and the reassignment of vessels for
maritime activities outside fishing activities of small scale coastal fishing
vessels. This last operation seems to be appropriate as the small scale coastal
fishing vessels are not covered by the transferable fishing concessions
systems.

(39)     The objective of the Common
Fisheries Policy is to ensure a sustainable exploitation of fish stocks.
Overcapacity has been identified as a major driver for overfishing. It is
therefore paramount to adapt the Union fishing fleet to
the resources available. The removal of overcapacity
through public aid such as temporary or permanent cessation and scrapping
schemes has proven ineffective. The EMFF will therefore support the
establishment and management of systems of transferable fishing concessions
aiming at the reduction of overcapacity and increased economic performance and
profitability of the operators concerned.

(40)     With overcapacity being one
of the key drivers of overfishing, measures need to be taken to adapt the Union
fishing fleet to the resources available; in this context, the EMFF should support the establishment,
modification and management of the systems of transferable fishing concessions
introduced by the CFP as management tools for reducing overcapacity.

(41)     It is paramount to
integrate environmental concerns into the EMFF and support the implementation
of conservation measures under the CFP taking however into account the diverse
conditions throughout the Union waters. For this purpose it is essential to
develop a regionalised approach to conservation measures.

(42)     In the same vein, the EMFF
should support the reduction of the impact of fishing on the marine environment
in particular through the promotion of eco innovation, more selective gears and
equipment as well as measures aiming at protecting and restoring marine
biodiversity and ecosystems and the services they provide, in line with the EU
Biodiversity Strategy to 2020.

(43)     In line with the discard
ban introduced by the CFP, the EMFF should support investments on board aiming
at make the best use of unwanted fish caught and valorise underused components
of the fish caught. Considering the scarcity of the resources, in order to
maximise the value of the fish caught, the EMFF should also support investments
on board aiming at adding commercial value to fish caught.

(44)     Conscious of the importance
of fishing ports, landing sites and shelters, the EMFF should support relevant
investments in particular to increase energy efficiency, environmental protection,
the quality of the product landed, as well as safety and working conditions.

(45)     It is vital for the Union
that a sustainable balance be achieved between fresh water resources and their
exploitation; therefore having due regard to environmental impact while
ensuring that these sectors retain economic viability, appropriate provisions
should support inland fishing.

(46)     In line with the
Commission's Strategy for the Sustainable Development of European Aquaculture[12], the CFP objectives and Europe
2020 Strategy, the EMFF should support the environmentally, economically and
socially sustainable development of the aquaculture industry.

(47)     Aquaculture contributes to
growth and jobs in coastal and rural regions. Therefore, it is crucial that the
EMFF is accessible to aquaculture enterprises, in particular SMEs and
contributes to bringing new aquaculture farmers into the business. In order to
increase the competitiveness and economic performance of aquaculture activities
it is vital to stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship. Therefore the EMFF
should support innovative operations and business development, in particular
non-food and off-shore aquaculture.

(48)     New forms of income
combined with aquaculture activities have already shown their added value for business
development. Therefore the EMFF should support these complementary activities
outside aquaculture such as angling-tourism, educational or environmental
activities.

(49)     An other important form of
increasing the income of aquaculture enterprises is adding value to their
products by processing and marketing their own production, as well as
introducing new species with good market prospects and thus diversifying their
production.

(50)     Conscious of the need to
identify the most suitable areas for developing aquaculture taking into account
access to waters and space, the EMFF should support national authorities in
making their strategic choices at national level.

(51)     Investment in human capital
is also vital to increase the competitiveness and economic performance of
aquaculture activities. Therefore, the EMFF should support lifelong learning
and networking stimulating the dissemination of knowledge as well as advisory
services helping to improve the overall performance and competitiveness of
operators.

(52)     In order to promote
environmentally sustainable aquaculture, the EMFF should support aquaculture
activities which are highly respectful of the environment, the conversion of
aquaculture enterprises to eco-management, the use of audit schemes as well as
the conversion to organic aquaculture. In the same vein, the EMFF should also
support aquaculture providing for special environmental services.

(53)     Conscious of the importance
of consumer protection, the EMFF should ensure adequate support to farmers in
order to prevent and mitigate the risk for public and animal health that
aquaculture rearing may generate.

(54)     Recognizing the risk of
investments in aquaculture activities, the EMFF should contribute to business
security by covering access to stock insurance and therefore safeguarding the
income of producers in case of abnormal production losses due in particular to
natural disasters, adverse climatic events, sudden water quality changes,
diseases or pest infestations and destruction of production facilities.

(55)     Considering that the
community-led approach for local development has, over a number of years,
proven its utility in promoting the development of fisheries and rural areas by
fully taking into account the multi-sectoral needs for endogenous development,
support should be continued and reinforced in the future.

(56)     In fisheries areas,
community-led local development should encourage innovative approaches to
create growth and jobs, in particular by adding value to fisheries products and
diversifying the local economy towards new economic activities, including those
offered by "blue growth" and the broader maritime sectors.

(57)     The sustainable development
of fisheries areas should contribute to the EU2020 objectives of promoting
social inclusion and poverty reduction and to fostering innovation at local
level as well as to the objective of territorial cohesion, a main priority in
the Lisbon Treaty.

(58)     Community-led local
development should be implemented through a bottom-up approach by local partnerships
that are composed of representatives of the public, private and civil society
sectors and mirror correctly the local society; these local actors are best
placed to draw up and implement integrated multi-sectoral local development
strategies to meet the needs of their local fisheries areas; it is important in
order to ensure the representativeness of local action groups that no single
interest groups has more than 49% of the voting right in the decision-making
bodies.

(59)     Networking between local partnerships
is an essential feature of this approach. Cooperation between these local
partnerships is an important development tool which should be made available by
the EMFF.

(60)     The support to fisheries
areas through the EMFF should be coordinated with the local development support
offered by other Union Funds and should cover all aspects of the preparation
and implementation of local development strategies and operations of local
action groups as well as the costs of animating the local area and running the
local partnership.

(61)     In order to ensure the
viability of fisheries and aquaculture in a highly competitive market, it is
necessary to lay down provisions granting support for the implementation of the
[Regulation (EU) No on the common organisation of the markets in fishery and
aquaculture products][13]
as well as for marketing and processing activities carried by operators to
maximise the value of fisheries and aquaculture products. Particular attention
should be paid to the promotion of operations which integrate producing,
processing and marketing activities of the supply chain. In order to adapt to
the new discard ban policy, the EMFF should also support the processing of
unwanted catches.

(62)     Priority should be given to
producer organisations and associations of producer organisations by granting
them support. The compensation for storage aid and aid for production and
marketing plans should gradually be phased out as the importance of this
particular kind of support has lost its interest in the light of the evolving
structure of the Union market for this kind of products and the growing
importance of strong producer's organisations.

(63)     Recognising the growing
competition small scale coastal fishermen are confronted to, the EMFF should
support entrepreneurial initiatives of small scale coastal fishermen adding
value to the fish they catch, in particular by carrying out the processing or
direct marketing of the fish they catch.

(64)     Fishing activities in the
outermost regions of the European Union are facing difficulties, in particular
because of the additional costs incurred in the marketing of certain fishery
products, due to the particular handicaps recognised by Article 349 of the
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

(65)     In order to maintain the
competitiveness of certain fishery products from the outermost regions of the
European Union compared with that of similar products from other European
Union's regions, the European Union introduced measures in 1992 to compensate
for the related additional costs in the fisheries sector. The measures applying
for the period 2007-2013 are laid down in Council Regulation (EC) No 791/2007[14]. It is necessary to continue
providing support to offset the additional costs for the marketing of certain
fishery products as of 1 January 2014.

(66)     In view of the different
marketing conditions in the outermost regions concerned, the fluctuations in
captures and stocks and of market demands, it should be left to the Member
States concerned to determine the fishery products eligible for compensation,
their respective maximum quantities and the compensation amounts within the
overall allocation per Member State.

(67)     Member States should be
authorised to differentiate the list and the quantities of fishery products concerned
and the amount of compensation within the overall allocation per Member State.
They should also be authorised to adjust their compensation plans if justified
by changing conditions.

(68)     Member States should set
the compensation amount at a level which allows appropriate off-setting of
additional costs, arising from the specific handicaps of the outermost regions
and in particular from the costs of transporting the products to mainland
Europe. To avoid overcompensation, the amount should be proportional to the
additional costs the aid off-sets and in no case exceed 100 % of the transport
and other related costs to mainland Europe. To this end, it should also take
into account other types of public intervention having an impact on the level
of additional costs.

(69)     It is paramount that Member
States and operators are equipped in such a way that controls can be carried
out to a high standard and therefore ensure compliance with the rules of the
Common Fisheries Policy while providing for the sustainable exploitation of
living aquatic resources; the EMFF should therefore support Member States and
operators in conformity with Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009. By creating
a culture of compliance, this support should contribute to sustainable growth.

(70)     The support granted to
Member States on the basis of the Regulation (EC) No. 861/2006 for the
expenditure incurred relating to the implementation of the Union control system
should be continued under the EMFF pursuing the logic of a single fund.

(71)     In line with the Union
control and enforcement policy objectives, it seems appropriate that a minimum
time is dedicated to fisheries control in the usage of patrol vessels,
aircrafts and helicopters which should be set out precisely in order to provide
a basis for the support under the EMFF.

(72)     Considering the importance
of cooperation between Member States in the field of control, the EMFF should
provide support for that purpose.

(73)     Provisions should be laid
down for support to collect, manage and use of fisheries data as specified in
the multiannual Union programme, in particular to support national programmes
and the management and use of data for scientific analysis and CFP
implementation. The support granted to Member States on the basis of the Regulation
(EC) No. 861/2006 for the expenditure incurred relating to the collection,
management and use of fisheries data should be continued under the EMFF
pursuing the logic of a single fund.

(74)     It is also necessary to
support the cooperation among Member States, as well as with third countries
where relevant, with respect to the collection of data within the same sea
basin, as well as with the relevant international scientific bodies.

(75)     The objective of the IMP is
to support sustainable use of seas and oceans and to develop coordinated,
coherent and transparent decision-making in relation to the policies affecting
the oceans, seas, islands, coastal and outermost regions and maritime sectors,
in accordance with the Commission Communication "An Integrated Maritime
Policy of the European Union[15].

(76)     Sustained funding is needed
for the implementation and further development of the Integrated Maritime
Policy for the European Union as reflected in the statements of the Council,
the European Parliament and the Committee of the Regions[16].

(77)     The EMFF should support the
promotion of integrated maritime governance at all levels especially through
exchanges of best practices and the further development and implementation of
sea basin strategies. These strategies aim at setting up an integrated
framework to address common challenges in European sea basins and strengthened
co-operation between stakeholders to maximise the use of Union financial
instruments and funds and contribute to the economic, social and territorial
cohesion of the Union.

(78)     The EMFF should also
support the further development of tools to create synergies between
initiatives taken in different sectors and affecting the seas, oceans and
coasts. This is the case for integrated maritime surveillance, which aims at
improving maritime situational awareness through enhanced and secure
information exchanges across sectors. However, operations related to maritime
surveillance falling under the scope of Title V of the Treaty on the
Functioning of the European Union should not be financed through the EMFF.

(79)     Interconnection of the
certain information systems run by those sectors may require mobilisation of
their own funding mechanisms in a coherent way and in line with Treaty
provisions. Maritime spatial planning and integrated coastal zone management
are essential for the sustainable development of marine areas and coastal
regions and both contributing to the aims of ecosystem-based management and the
development of land-sea links. These tools are also important to manage diverse
uses of our coasts, seas and oceans to enable their sustainable economic
development and to stimulate cross-border investment, whereas the
implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive will further define
the boundaries of sustainability of human activities that have an impact on the
marine environment. Furthermore, it is necessary to improve knowledge of the
marine world, and stimulate innovation by facilitating collection, free
sharing, re-use and dissemination of data concerning the status of oceans and
seas.

(80)     The EMFF should also
support sustainable economic growth, employment, innovation and competitiveness
within maritime sectors and in coastal regions. It is particularly important to
identify regulatory barriers and skill deficiencies hindering growth in
emerging and prospective maritime sectors, as well as operations aimed at
fostering investment in technological innovation necessary to enhance the
business potential of marine and maritime applications.

(81)     The EMFF should be
complementary and coherent with existing and future financial instruments made
available by the Union and the Member States, at national and sub-national
level, for promoting the protection and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and
coasts, helping to foster more effective cooperation between the Member States
and their coastal, island, and outermost regions, and taking into account the
prioritisation and progress of national and local projects. The Fund will tie
in with other Union policies that may encompass a maritime dimension, in
particular the European Regional Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund and the
European Social Fund as well the Horizon 2020 Programme for Research and energy
policy

(82)     In order to achieve the
objectives of the CFP at the global level, the Union plays an active role in
the work of international organisations. It is therefore essential that the
Union contributes to the activities of such organisations that help to ensure
the conservation and sustainably exploitation of fisheries resources on the
high seas and in third country waters. The support granted to international
organisations on the basis of the Regulation No. (EC) 861/2006 should be
continued under the EMFF pursuing the logic of a single fund.

(83)     In order to improve
governance within the CFP and ensure the effective functioning of the Advisory
Councils (ACs), it is essential for ACs to be provided with sufficient and
permanent funding in order to pursue effectively their advisory role within the
CFP. Pursuing the logic of a single fund, the support granted to ACs under the
EMFF should replace the support given to Regional Advisory Councils (RACs) on
the basis of the Regulation (EC) No. 861/2006.

(84)     By way of technical
assistance the EMFF should provide preparatory, administrative and technical
support as well as support for information measures, networking, evaluations,
audits, studies and exchanges of experience in order to facilitate the
implementation of the operational programme and to promote innovative
approaches and practices for simple and transparent implementation. Technical
assistance should also include the setting up of a European network of
Fisheries Local Action Groups aiming at capacity building, disseminating
information, exchanging experience and supporting cooperation between the local
partnerships.

(85)     In relation to all
operations financed under this Regulation, both under shared and direct
management, it is necessary to ensure the protection of the Union financial
interests by the proper application of the legislation pertaining to the
protection of those interests, and to ensure that appropriate controls are
carried out by Member States and by the Commission.

(86)     [Regulation (EU) No […]
laying down Common Provisions] and the provisions adopted pursuant to it should
apply to the provisions of this Regulation, which fall under shared management.
In particular the [Regulation (EU) No […] laying down Common Provisions][17] lays down provisions related
to the shared management of the Union funds with Member States based on the
principles of sound financial management, transparency and non-discrimination, as well as provisions on the function of accredited bodies,
the budgetary principles, provisions which should be respected in the framework
of this Regulation.

(87)     Taking however into account
the specificity of the EMFF, in particular its size, the types of operations
financed, the strong link to the CFP and any other relevant factors, some of
the common provisions relating to shared management should be adapted,
derogated or supplemented in this regulation. Where required by the provisions
of the [Regulation (EU) No […] laying down Common Provisions], the EMFF should
complete and supplement those common provisions.

(88)     Conscious of the importance
of ensuring conservation of marine biological and protecting fish stocks in
particular from illegal fishing and in the spirit of the conclusions drawn in
the Green Paper on the Reform of the CFP[18],
those operators who do not comply with the rules of the CFP, and particularly
jeopardise the sustainability of the stocks concerned and constitute therefore
a serious threat to the sustainable exploitation of living marine biological
resources that restores and maintains populations of harvested species above
levels which can produce the MSY, and those who are involved in IUU fishing
should be excluded from support under the EMFF. Union funding should not at any
stage from the selection to the implementation of an operation be used to
undermine the public interest of conservation of marine biological resources
expressed in the objectives of the CFP Regulation.

(89)     Member
States should adopt adequate measures to guarantee the proper functioning of
management and control systems. To that end, a managing authority, a paying
agency and a certification body should be designated for each operational
programme and their responsibilities should be specified. These
responsibilities should relate primarily to the sound financial implementation,
organisation of evaluation, certification of expenditure, audit and compliance
with Union law. Provision should be made for regular meetings between the
Commission and the national authorities concerned in order to monitor the
assistance. With respect to management and control it is necessary, in
particular, to establish the modalities by which Member States give the
assurance that the systems are in place and function satisfactorily. Whereas to
ensure smooth transition from the current management and control arrangements
for the EFF and to promote harmonisation of rules for the ESI Funds, the
management and control, and financial management arrangements should be set out
in the [Regulation (EU) No […] laying down Common Provisions].

(8990) The financial interests of the European Union should
be protected through proportionate measures throughout the expenditure cycle,
including the prevention, detection, and investigation of irregularities, the
recovery of funds lost, wrongly paid or incorrectly used and, where
appropriate, penalties.

(91)     Sums
recovered by Member States following irregularities should remain available to
the operational programmes of the Member State concerned. A system of financial
responsibility of Member States should be designed in the absence of total
recovery of irregularities and the Commission should be enabled to safeguard
the interests of the Union budget by charging to the Member State concerned
sums lost as a result of irregularities and not recovered within reasonable
deadlines.

(902)   In the interest of a good working partnership and the
proper promotion of Union assistance, the broadest possible information and
publicity about it should be provided for. The authorities responsible for
managing assistance should be responsible for this aspect and for keeping the
Commission informed of measures taken.

(93)     The
rules and procedures governing commitments and payments should be simplified so
that a regular cash flow is ensured. A pre-financing of 4 % of the contribution
from the EMFF should help speeding up the implementation of the operational
programme.

(94)     In
order to ensure the sound management of Union resources, improvements should be
made to the forecasting and implementing of expenditure. To that end Member
States should regularly send the Commission their forecasts regarding the use
of Union resources and any delays in financial implementation should give rise
to repayment of advances and to automatic decommitments.

(915)   In order to address the specific needs of the CFP
mentioned in Articles 50 and 51 of the [CFP Regulation] and contribute to the
compliance with the CFP rules, additional provisions to the rules on
interruption of the payment deadline [Regulation (EU) No […] laying down Common
Provisions] should be laid down. Where a Member State or an operator has failed
to comply with its obligations under the CFP or where the Commission has
evidence to suggest this lack of compliance, as a precautionary measure, the
Commission should be allowed to interrupt payments.

(926)   In addition to the possibility of interruption and,
in order to avoid an evident risk of paying out ineligible expenditure, the
Commission should be allowed to suspend payments linked to a non compliance of
CFP rules as required by Articles 50 and 51 of the [CFP Regulation].

(97)     In
order to establish the financial relationship between the accredited paying
agencies and the Union budget, the Commission should clear the accounts of
these paying agencies annually. The clearance of accounts decision should cover
the completeness, accuracy and veracity of the accounts but not the conformity
of the expenditure with Union legislation.

(938)   The operational programme should be subject to
monitoring and evaluation in order to improve its quality and demonstrate its
achievements. The Commission should set up a framework for a common monitoring
and evaluation ensuring among others that relevant data is available on a
timely manner. In this context a list of indicators should be determined and
the impact of the EMFF policy assessed by the Commission in relation to
specific objectives.

(949)   Responsibility for monitoring of the programme should
be shared between the Managing Authority and a Monitoring Committee set up for
this purpose. To this end the respective responsibilities should be specified.
Monitoring of the programme should involve the drawing up of an annual
implementation report, to be sent to the Commission.

(95100)            With a view to strengthening accessibility
and transparency of information about funding opportunities and project beneficiaries,
in each Member State a single website or website portal providing information
on operational programme, including the lists of operations supported under
each operational programme, should be made available. This information should
give a reasonable, tangible and concrete idea to the wider public and in
particular to Union taxpayers on how Union funding is spent in the framework of
the EMFF. In addition to this objective, the publication of relevant data
should serve the purpose of further publicising the possibility of applying for
Union funding. However in full respect of the fundamental right to data
protection and in line with the judgment of the Court in the Joined Cases
Schecke[19],
the publication of the names of natural persons should not be requested.

(96101)            In order to supplement and amend certain
non-essential elements of this Regulation, the power to adopt acts in
accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty should be delegated to the Commission
in respect of a code of conduct on identification of the cases of
non-compliance of CFP rules which could lead to inadmissibility of application
and the timeframe of application, in order to ensure ex ante conditionality in
a proportionate way, identification of eligible investments on board in order to
avoid investments which would lead to increasing the fishing capacity of the
vessel, on the method of calculation of net revenue in the case of
eco-innovation, on the determination of the eligible operations and costs
linked to the protection and restoration of marine protected areas, on the
identification of eligible costs in the investments in off-shore and non-food
aquaculture, the determination of the content of the action plan of local
development strategies, determination of eligible costs under the preparatory
support for local development strategies, definition of the eligible costs
under running costs and animation costs for the local development strategies, the obligations of paying agencies, the determination of tasks of
certification bodies, the clarification of the procedures for adequate audit
trail, the clarification of the obligations of Member States in case of
recoveries of undue payments, the determination of cases of
non-compliance of CFP which might lead to suspension of payments, the establishment
of the criteria and methodology to apply in case of flat rate or extrapolated
financial corrections and the list of relevant cases of non-compliance with CFP
rules which might lead to the application of financial corrections and on the
content and construction of the monitoring and evaluation system.

(97102)            The Commission, when preparing and drawing
up delegated acts, should ensure a simultaneous, timely and appropriate
transmission of relevant documents to the European Parliament and Council.

(98103)            The Commission should be empowered to
adopt, by means of implementing acts, decisions on the annual breakdown of
allocations, decisions approving the operational programmes and their
amendments, decisions on the priority of the Union in the control and
enforcement policy, decision approving the annual work plans for data
collection, decisions establishing evidence of non-compliance with CFP leading
to possible interruptions of the payment deadline, decisions on the failure to
comply with CFP rules leading to possible suspension of payments, decisions
suspending payments and lifting suspension of payments and,
decisions on financial corrections an decision on clearance
of accounts.

(99104)            In order to ensure uniform conditions for
the implementation of this Regulation, the implementing powers relating to the
format of the operational programme, the procedures to adopt the operational
programme, the procedures relating to the adoption of annual work plan for data
collection, the concrete application of the percentage points of aid intensity
of Annex I, the period of time for sending the intermediate
declaration of expenditure, rules on the obligation of paying agencies as
regard to management and control, specific tasks of the certification bodies,
the rules for efficient management and control, rules for the
determination of the payments to be suspended, the procedures for interrupting
the payment deadline or for suspending payments, the procedure for additional
on-the-spots controls by the Commission, the format of the Annual
Implementation Reports, the elements to be included in the ex-ante and ex-post
evaluations and the elaboration of technical elements for publicity measures
should be conferred on the Commission. Those powers should be exercised in accordance
with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council
of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning
mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission's exercise of
implementing powers[20].

(100105)          In light of the procedural nature of the
provisions to be adopted by the Commission with the implementing acts of
Article 24, Article 98, Article 10320 and Article 12043, the advisory procedure should apply when adopting
these latter.

(101106)          In order to facilitate a smooth transition
from the system established by Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006 to the system
established by this Regulation, the power to adopt acts in accordance with
Article 290 of the Treaty should be delegated to the Commission in respect of
establishing transitional provisions.

(102107)          The new support scheme provided
for by this Regulation replaces the support scheme set up by Regulation (EC) No
1198/2006, Regulation (EC) No 861/2006, Regulation of the European Parliament
and of the Council establishing a Programme to support the further development
of an Integrated Maritime Policy, Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005 Guarantee Fund,
Regulation (EC) No 791/2007 and Article 103 of the Regulation 1224/2009.
Therefore, these regulations and provision should be repealed from 1 January
2014.

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

TITLE I
OBJECTIVES

CHAPTER I
Scope and Definitions

Article 1
Subject matter

This Regulation defines Union financial
measures for the implementation of:

(a)          the Common Fisheries Policy
(CFP),

(b)          relevant measures relating to the
Law of the Sea,

(c)          the sustainable development of
fisheries areas and inland fishing,

(d)          and the Integrated Maritime
Policy (IMP).

Article 2
Geographical scope

This Regulation shall apply to operations
carried out in the territory of the Union unless otherwise expressly provided
for in this Regulation.

Article 3
Definitions

1.           For the purposes of this
Regulation and without prejudice to paragraph 2, the definitions referred to in
Article 5 of the [Regulation on the Common Fisheries Policy][21], Article 5 of the [Regulation
on the Common Organisation of the markets in fishery and aquaculture products]
and Article 4 of the Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 and Article 2 of
Regulation No [Regulation laying down Common Provisions][22] shall apply.

2.           For the purpose of this
Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:

(1)
'Common Information Sharing Environment (CISE)'
means a network of systems with a decentralised set-up developed for the
exchange of information across users from different sectors to improve
situational awareness of activities at sea;

(2)
'cross-sectoral operations' means initiatives
that mutually benefit different sectors and/or sectoral policies, as referred
to in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and that cannot be
accomplished entirely through measures encompassed within respective policy
areas;

(3)
'electronic recording and reporting system'
(ERS) means a system for the electronic recording and reporting of data as
referred to in Articles 15, 24 and 63 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009;

(4)
'European Marine Observation and Data Network'
means a network that integrates national marine observation and data programmes
into a common and accessible European resource;

(5)
'fisheries area' means an area with sea or lake
shore or including ponds or a river estuary with a significant level of
employment in fisheries or aquaculture and designated as such by the Member
State;

(6)
'fisherman' means any person engaging in
professional fishing, as recognised by the Member State, on board of an
operational fishing vessel or engaging in professional harvesting of marine
organisms, as recognised by the Member State, without a vessel;

(7)
"Integrated Maritime Policy" (IMP)
means a Union policy whose aim is to foster coordinated and coherent decision
making to maximise the sustainable development, economic growth and social
cohesion of Member States, and notably the coastal, insular and outermost
regions in the Union, as well as maritime sectors, through coherent
maritime-related policies and relevant international cooperation;

(8)
'Integrated Maritime Surveillance' is a EU
initiative aiming to enhance effectiveness and efficiency in surveillance
activities of the European seas through information exchange and collaboration
across sectors and borders;

(9)
"irregularity" means irregularity as
defined in Article 1(2) of the Council Regulation 2988/95;

(10)
'inland fishing' means fishing carried out for
commercial purposes by vessels operating exclusively in inland waters or by
other devices used for ice fishing;

(11)
'integrated coastal zone management" means
such strategies and measures as defined in the Recommendation of the European
Parliament and of the Council (2002/413/EC)of 30 May 2002 concerning the
implementation of Integrated Coastal Zone Management in Europe[23];

(12)
'integrated maritime governance' means the
coordinated management of all sectoral policies of the EU affecting the oceans,
seas, and coastal regions;

(13)
'marine regions' means the geographical areas
set out in Annex I to Council Decision 2004/585/EC and the areas established by
the regional fisheries management organisations;

(14)
'maritime spatial planning' means a process by
which public authorities analyse and allocate the spatial and temporal
distribution of human activities in marine areas to achieve ecological,
economic and social objectives;

(15)
'measure' means a set of operations;

(16) 'public expenditure' means any contribution to
the financing of operations derived from the Member State's budget or from the
budget of regional or local authorities, or the European Union and any similar
expenditure. Any contribution to the financing of operations whose origin is
the budget of public-law bodies or associations of one or more regional or
local authorities or public-law bodies acting in accordance with Directive
2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on
the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public
supply contracts and public service contracts shall be regarded as a public
contribution;

(17)
'sea basin strategy' means a structured
framework of cooperation in respect to a given geographical area, developed by
European Institutions, Member States, their regions and where appropriate third
countries sharing a sea basin; the strategy takes into account the geographic,
climatic, economic and political specificities of the sea basin;

(18)
'small scale coastal fishing' means fishing
carried out by fishing vessels of an overall length of less than 12 metres and
not using towed gear as listed in Table 3 Annex I of Commission Regulation (EC)
No 26/2004 of 30 December 2003 regarding the fishing vessels register of the
Union[24];

(19)
'vessels operating exclusively in inland waters'
means vessels engaged in commercial fishing in inland waters and not included
in the Union fishing fleet register.

TITLE II
GENERAL FRAMEWORK

CHAPTER I
Establishment and objectives of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund

Article 4
Establishment

The European Maritime and Fisheries Fund
(EMFF) is hereby established.

Article 5
Objectives

The EMFF shall contribute to the following
objectives:

(a)
promoting sustainable and competitive fisheries
and aquaculture;

(b)
fostering the development and implementation of
the Union's Integrated Maritime Policy in a complementary manner to cohesion
policy and to the Common Fisheries Policy;

(c)
promoting a balanced and inclusive territorial
development of fisheries areas;

(d)
fostering the implementation of the CFP.

Article 6
Union priorities

The achievement of the objectives of the
EMFF shall contribute to the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and
inclusive growth. It shall be pursued through the following six Union
priorities, which translate the relevant Thematic Objectives of the Common
Strategic Framework (hereinafter CSF):

(1)          Increasing employment and
territorial cohesion through the following objectives:

(a)
promotion of economic growth, social inclusion,
creation of jobs and supporting labour mobility in coastal and inland
communities depending on fishing and aquaculture;

(b)
diversification of fisheries activities into
other sectors of maritime economy and growth of maritime economy, including
mitigation of climate change.

(2)          Fostering innovative, competitive
and knowledge based fisheries through the focus on the following areas:

(a)
support to strengthening technological
development, innovation and knowledge transfer;

(b)
enhancement of the competitiveness and viability
of fisheries, in particular of small scale coastal fleet, and improvement of safety
or working conditions;

(c)
development of new professional skills and
lifelong learning;

(d)
improved market organisation for fishery
products.

(3)          Fostering innovative, competitive
and knowledge based aquaculture through the focus on the following areas:

(a)
support to strengthening technological
development, innovation and knowledge transfer;

(b)
enhancement of the competitiveness and viability
of aquaculture enterprises, SMEs in particular;

(c)
development of new professional skills and
lifelong learning;

(d)
improved market organisation for aquaculture
products.

(4)          Promoting a sustainable and
resource efficient fisheries through the focus on the following areas:

(a)
reduction of the impact of fisheries on the
marine environment;

(b)
protection and restoration of marine
biodiversity and ecosystems including the services they provide.

(5)          Promoting a sustainable and
resource efficient aquaculture through the focus on the following areas:

(a)
enhancement of ecosystems related to aquaculture
and promotion of resource efficient aquaculture;

(b)
promotion of aquaculture with high level of environmental
protection and of animal health and welfare and of public health and safety.

(6)          Fostering the implementation of
the CFP through:

(a)
the supply of scientific knowledge and
collection of data;

(b)
the support to control and enforcement,
enhancing institutional capacity and an efficient public administration.

CHAPTER II
Shared and direct management

Article 7
Shared and direct management

1.           Measures covered by Title
V and technical assistance under Article 92 shall be financed by the EMFF in
accordance with the principle of shared management between the Member States
and the Union and under the common rules laid down by the [Regulation (EU) No […] laying down Common
Provisions].[25]

2.           Measures covered by Title
VI with the exception of the technical assistance under Article 92 shall be
financed by the EMFF in accordance with the principle of direct management.

CHAPTER III
General Principles of Assistance under Shared Management

Article 8
State aid

1.           Without prejudice to
paragraph 2 of this Article, Articles 107, 108 and 109 of the Treaty shall
apply to aid granted by the Member States to enterprises in fisheries and
aquaculture.

2.           However Articles 107, 108
and 109 of the Treaty shall not apply to payments made by Member States
pursuant to, and in conformity with, this Regulation within the scope of
Article 42 of the Treaty.

3.           National provisions
setting up public financing going beyond the provisions of this Regulation
concerning financial contributions, as provided for in paragraph 2, shall be
treated as a whole on the basis of paragraph 1.

Article 9
Partnership

By derogation to Article 5(4) of the [Regulation (EU) No […] laying down Common
Provisions] the Commission shall consult at least twice during the programming
period the organisations which represent the partners at Union level on the
implementation of support from the EMFF.

Article 10
Coordination

In addition to the principles enounced in
Article 4 of the [Regulation (EU) No […] laying
down Common Provisions], the Commission and the Member States shall
ensure coordination and complementarity between support from the EMFF and from
other Union policies and financial instruments, including the Regulation (EC)
No [establishing the Framework Programme for Environment and Climate Change
Action (LIFE Framework Programme)][26]
and those in the framework of the Union's external action. Coordination between
assistance from the EMFF and LIFE Framework Programme shall be achieved in
particular, by promoting the funding of activities that complement integrated
projects funded under LIFE Framework Programme, as well as by promoting the use
of solutions, methods and approaches validated under LIFE Framework Programme.

Article 11
Ex ante conditionalities

The ex ante conditionalities
referred to in Annex III of this Regulation shall apply for the EMFF.

CHAPTER IV
Admissibility of applications and ineligible operations

Article 12
Admissibility of
applications

1.           Applications submitted by
the following operators shall not be admissible for support from the EMFF for
an identified period of time:

(a)
operators that have committed a serious
infringement under 42 of the Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 or Article 90(1) of
the Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009;

(b)
operators involved in the operation, management
or ownership of fishing vessels included in the Union IUU vessel list as set
out in Article 40(3) of the Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008;

(c)
operators who committed other cases of non
compliance with the CFP rules which seriously jeopardise the sustainability of
the stocks concerned.

2.           Applications submitted by
operators that have committed an irregularity under the EFF or the EMFF shall
not be admissible for an identified period of time.

3.           The Commission shall be
empowered to adopt delegated act in accordance with Article 12750 concerning:

(a)
the identification of the period of time
referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 which shall be proportionate to the
seriousness or to the repetition of the infringement or non-compliance;

(b)
the relevant starting or ending dates of the
period referred to in paragraph 1;

(c)
the identification of the other cases of non
compliance referred to in paragraph 1(c) which seriously jeopardise the
sustainability of the stocks concerned.

4.           Member States shall
require that operators submitting an application under the EMFF provide to the
managing authority a signed statement confirming that they respect the criteria
listed in paragraph 1 and have not committed an irregularity under the EEF or
the EMFF as referred to in paragraph 2. Member States shall verify the veracity
of the statement before the approval of the operation.

5.           The Commission shall be
empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 12750 on delegation concerning the
establishment of a system for the exchange of information of non-compliance
between Member States.

Article 13
Ineligible operations

The following operations shall not be
eligible under the EMFF:

(a)
operations increasing the fishing capacity of
the vessel;

(b)
construction of new fishing vessels,
decommissioning or importation of fishing vessels;

(c)
temporary cessation of fishing activities;

(d)
experimental fishing;

(e)
transfer of ownership of a business;

(f)
direct restocking, unless explicitly foreseen as
a conservation measure by a Union legal act or in the case of experimental
restocking.

TITLE III
FINANCIAL FRAMEWORK

Article 14
Budget implementation

1.           The Union budget allocated
to the EMFF under Title V shall be implemented within the framework of shared
management according to Article 4 of [Regulation (EU)
No […] laying down Common Provisions].

2.           The Union budget allocated
to the EMFF under Title VI shall be implemented directly by the Commission in
accordance with Article 55(1)(a) of the [new Financial Regulation].

3.           The Commission shall
cancel all or part of the budget commitment under direct management in accordance
with the [new Financial Regulation] and in accordance with Article 12447 of this Regulation.

4.           The principle of sound
financial management shall be applied in accordance with Articles 27 and 50 of
the [new Financial Regulation].

Article 15
Budgetary resources under
shared management

1.           The resources available
for commitments from the EMFF for the period 2014 to 2020 under shared
management shall be EUR 5 520 000 000 in current prices in accordance with the
annual breakdown set out in Annex II.

2.           EUR 4 535 000 000 of the
resources referred to in paragraph (1) shall be allocated to the sustainable
development of fisheries, aquaculture and fisheries areas under Chapters I, II
and III of Title V.

3.           EUR 477 000 000 of the
resources referred to in paragraph (1) shall be allocated to control and
enforcement measures referred to in Article 78.

4.           EUR 358 000 000 of the
resources referred to in paragraph (1) shall be allocated to measures on data
collection referred to in Article 79.

5.           The resources allocated to
compensation of outermost regions under Chapter V of Title V, shall not exceed
per year:

–
EUR 4 300 000 for the Azores and Madeira;

–
EUR 5 800 000 for the Canary Islands;

–
EUR 4 900 000 for the French Guiana and Réunion.

6.           EUR 45 000 000 of the resources
referred to in paragraph (1) shall be allocated to the storage aid referred to
in Article 72 from 2014 to 2018 included.

Article 16
Budgetary resources under
direct management

An amount of EUR 1 047 000 000 of the EMFF
shall allocated to measures under direct management as specified in Chapter I
and II of Title VI. This amount includes technical assistance under Article 91.

Article 17
Financial distribution for
shared management

1.           The resources available
for commitments by Member States referred to in Article 15 (2) to (6) for the
period 2014 to 2020 as set out in the table in Annex II are determined on the
basis of the following objective criteria:

(a)
As regards Title V:

(i)      the level of employment in fisheries
and aquaculture,

(ii)      the level of production in fisheries
and aquaculture, and

(iii)     the share of small scale coastal
fishing fleet in the fishing fleet;

(b)
As regards Article 78 and Article 79:

(i)      the extent of the control tasks of
the Member state concerned approximated by the size of the national fishing
fleet, the amount of landings and the value of imports from third countries;

(ii)      the available control resources
compared to the extent of the control tasks of the Member State, whereby
available means are approximated by number of controls conducted at sea and of
landing inspections;

(iii)     the extent of data collections tasks
of the Member State concerned, approximated by the size of the national fishing
fleet, the amount of landings, the amount of scientific monitoring activities
at sea and the number of surveys the Member State is taking part in, and

(iv)     the available data collection
resources compared to the extent of the data collection tasks of the Member
State, where available means are approximated to the number of observers at sea
and the amount of human resources and technical means needed to implement the
national sampling programme for data collection.

(c)
As regards all measures, the historical
allocations under Council Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006 and the historical
consumption under Council Regulation (EC) No 861/2006.

2.           The Commission shall adopt
a decision, by means of implementing act, setting out the annual breakdown of
the global ressources by Member State.

TITLE IV
PROGRAMMING

CHAPTER I
Programming for measures financed under shared management

Article 18
Preparation of operational
programmes

1.           Each Member State shall
draw up a single operational programme to implement the Union priorities to be
co-financed by the EMFF.

2.           The operational programme
shall be established by the Member State following close co-operation with the
partners referred to in Article 5 of the [Regulation (EU) No [...] laying down
Common Provisions]. Consultation of the partners on the preparatory documents
shall be organised in such a way as to allow the partners to examine them.

3.           For the section of the
operational programme referred to in Article 20(1)(n) the Commission shall
adopt by means of implementing act the priorities of the Union for enforcement
and control policy by 31 May 2013 at the latest.

4.           The section of the
operational programme referred to in Article 20(1)(o) covering the part of the
multiannual programme referred to in Article 37(5) of the [Regulation on Common
Fisheries Policy] for the year 2014 shall be transmitted by 31 October 2013 at the
latest.

Article 19
Guiding principles for the
operational programme

In the preparation of the operational
programme, the Member State shall take into account the following guiding
principles:

(a)
relevant combinations of measures are included
in relation to each of the Union priorities, logically following from the
ex-ante evaluation and the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
(hereinafter "SWOT") analysis;

(b)
a pertinent approach towards innovation and
climate change mitigation and adaptation is integrated into the programme;

(c)
appropriate action is envisaged to simplify and
facilitate the implementation of the programme;

(d)
where applicable, consistency of the measures
under Union priorities for EMFF referred to in Article 6(3) and (5) of this
Regulation with the Multiannual National Strategic Plan for Aquaculture
referred to in Article 43 of the [Regulation on Common Fisheries Policy].

Article 20
Content of the operational
programme

1.           In addition to the
elements referred to in Article 24 of the [Regulation (EU) No [...] laying down
Common Provisions], the operational programme shall include:

(a)
ex-ante evaluation referred to in Article 48 of
the [Regulation (EU) No [...] laying down Common Provisions];

(b)
an analysis of the situation in terms of SWOT
and identification of the needs that have to be addressed in the geographical
area covered by the programme;

The analysis shall be structured around the
Union priorities. Specific needs concerning climate change mitigation and
adaptation and promotion of innovation shall be assessed across Union
priorities, in view of identifying relevant responses in these two areas at the
level of each priority; a synthesis of the situation of the policy areas
eligible for support in terms of strengths and weaknesses;

(c)
a demonstration of a pertinent approach
integrated into the programme towards innovation, the environment, including
the specific needs of Natura 2000 areas, and climate change mitigation and
adaptation;

(d)
the assessment of the ex ante
conditionalities and, where required, the actions referred to in Article 17(4)
of the [Regulation (EU) No [...] laying down Common Provisions], and the
milestones established for the purpose of Article 19 of the [Regulation (EU) No
[...] laying down Common Provisions];

(e)
a list of measures selected organised by Union
priorities;

(f)
description of selection criteria for projects;

(g)
description of selection criteria for local
development strategies under Chapter III of Title V ;

(h)
a clear indication of the operations under
Chapter III of Title V that may be undertaken collectively and therefore may
benefit from higher aid intensity according to Article 95(3);

(i)
an analysis of needs relating to monitoring and
evaluation requirements and the evaluation plan referred to in Article 49 of
the [Regulation (EU) No […] laying down Common Provisions]. The Member States
shall provide sufficient resources and capacity building activities to address
the identified needs;

(j)
a financing plan to be designed taking into
account Articles 18 and 20 of the [Regulation (EU) No […] laying down Common
Provisions] and in accordance with the Commission's decision referred to in
Article 17(3), comprising:

(i)      a table setting out the total EMFF
contribution planned for each year;

(ii)      a table setting out the applicable
EMFF resources and co-financing rate for the objectives under the Union
priorities of Article 6 and the technical assistance. Where applicable, this
table shall indicate separately the EMFF resources and the co-financing rates
which apply by way of derogation to the general rule of Article 94(1) for
support referred to in Article 72, Article 73, Article 78(2)(a) to (d) and (f)
to (j), Article 78(2)(e) and Article 79.

(k)
information on the complementarity with measures
financed through other CSF Funds or the LIFE Framework Programme;

(l)
programme implementing arrangements including:

(i)      the designation by the Member State
of all authorities referred to in Article 107 113 of the [Regulation (EU) No [...] laying down Common Provisions]
and, for information, a summary description of the management and control structuresystem;

(ii)      a description of the monitoring and
evaluation procedures, as well as the composition of the Monitoring Committee;

(iii)     the provisions to ensure that the
programme is publicised in accordance with Article 12043.

(m)
the designation of the partners referred to in
Article 5 of the [Regulation (EU) No [...] laying down Common Provisions] and
the results of the consultation of the partners;

(n)
for the objective of increased compliance
through control referred in under Article 6(6) and in accordance with article
18 (3):

(i)      a list of bodies implementing the
control, inspection and enforcement system and a brief description of their
human and financial resources available for fisheries control, inspection and
enforcement, their equipment available for fisheries control, inspection and
enforcement in particular the number of vessels, aircraft and helicopters;

(ii)      overall objectives of the control
measures to be implemented using common indicators to be set in accordance with
Article 11033;

(iii)     specific objectives to be achieved
in line with the Union priorities of Article 6 and detailing how many items of
every expenditure category shall be purchased over the entire programming
period;

(o)
For the objective of collection of data for
sustainable fisheries management referred in under Articles 6(6) and 18(4) and
in accordance with the multiannual Union programme referred to in Article 37(5)
of the [Regulation on Common Fisheries Policy]:

(i)      a description of activities of data
collection to be carried out to allow the following:

–
an evaluation of the fishing sector (biological,
economical and transversal variables as well as research surveys at sea),

–
an evaluation of the economic situation of
aquaculture and processing industries,

–
an evaluation of the effects of the fishing
sector on the ecosystem.

(ii)      a description of data storage
methods, data management and data use,

(iii)     a demonstration of the capability to
achieve sound financial and administrative management of the data collected.

This section of the operational programme shall
be supplemented by Article 23.

2.           The operational programme
shall include the methods for the calculation of simplified costs referred to in Article 57 of the [Regulation (EU) No [...] laying
down Common Provisions], additional costs or income foregone in
accordance with Article 97103,
or method to calculate compensation according to relevant criteria identified
for each of the activities deployed under Article 38(1).

3.           In addition, the operational
programme shall include a description of the specific actions to promote equal
opportunities and prevent any discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic
origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, including
the arrangements to ensure the integration of gender perspective at operational
programme and operation level.

4.           The Commission shall lay
down, by means of implementing acts, rules for the presentation of the elements
described in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3. These implementing acts shall be adopted in
accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 12851(2).

Article 21
Approval of the
Operational Programme

1.           In addition to the
provisions of Article 25 of the [Regulation on (EU) No [...] laying down Common
provisions] the Commission shall assess the consistency of the operational
programmes with this Regulation and their effective contribution to the Union
priorities for EMFF referred to in Article 6 and taking account of the ex
ante evaluation.

2.           The Commission shall
approve the operational programme by means of implementing act.

Article 22
Amendment of the
Operational Programme

1.           The Commission shall
approve the amendment of an operational programme by means of implementing
acts.

2.           In order to adapt to the
evolving technical needs of control activities, the section of the operational
programme referred to in Article 20(1)(n) may be amended every two years, for
the first time with the effect from 1 January 2015.

For this purpose, the Commission shall adopt a
decision, by means of implementing act, detailing the changes in the priorities
of the Union in the enforcement and control policy mentioned in Article 18(3)
and the corresponding eligible operations to be prioritised.

Taking into account the new priorities laid down
in the decision mentioned in the second sub-paragraph of this paragraph, Member
States shall submit to the Commission by 31 October of the year preceding the
year of implementation concerned, the amendment to the Operational Programme.

3.           In line with the principle
of proportionality, the programmes amendments referred to in paragraph 2 shall
benefit from a simplified procedure adopted in line with Article 24.

Article 23
Annual work plan for data
collection

1.           For the purpose of
application of Article 20(1)(o), Member States shall submit to the Commission an
annual work plan before 31 October each year. Annual work plans shall contain a
description of the procedures and methods to be used in collecting and
analysing data and in estimating their accuracy and precision.

2.           Member States shall submit
each annual work plan by electronic means.

3.           The Commission shall
approve, by means of implementing act, the annual work plan for each year by 31
December of each year.

4.           The first annual work plan
shall include the activities for the year 2014 and has to be submitted to the
Commission by 31 October 2013 at the latest.

Article 24
Rules on procedures and
timetables

1.           The Commission may adopt,
by means of implementing acts, rules on procedures, format and timetables for:

–
the approval of operational programmes;

–
the submission and approval of proposals for
amendments to operational programmes, including their entry into force and
frequency of submission during the programming period;

–
the submission and approval of proposals for
amendments referred to in paragraphs 2 of Article 22;

–
the submission of annual workplans for data
collection.

The procedures and timetables shall be
simplified in case of amendments to operational programmes concerning:

(a)
a transfer of funds between Union's priorities;

(b)
introduction or withdrawal of measures or types
of operations;

(c)
changes in the description of measures,
including changes of eligibility conditions;

(d)
amendments referred to in Article 22(2) as well
as further amendments of the programme of the section referred to in Article
20(1)(n).

Amendments referred to in (a) and (b) shall not
exceed 5 % of the amount allocated to the Union priority and 10 % of the amount
allocated to each measure in order to benefit from this simplified procedure.

2.           These implementing acts
shall be adopted in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in
Article 12851(2).

CHAPTER II
Programming for measures financed under direct management

Article 25
Annual work programme

1.           To implement Chapters I
and II of Title VI and Article 92, the Commission shall, by means of
implementing acts, adopt annual work programme in accordance with objectives
set out in those Chapters. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in
accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 12851(3).

2.           The annual work programme
shall set out the objectives pursued, the expected results, the method of
implementation and its total amount. It shall also contain a description of the
activities to be financed, an indication of the amount allocated to each
activity, an indicative implementation timetable, as well as information on
their implementation. It shall include for grants the priorities, the essential
evaluation criteria and the maximum rate of co-financing.

TITLE V
MEASURES FINANCED UNDER SHARED MANAGEMENT

CHAPTER I
Sustainable development of fisheries

Article 26
Specific Objectives

Support under this Chapter shall contribute
to the achievement of the Union priorities identified in Article 6(2) and (4).

Article 27
General conditions

1.           The owner of a fishing
vessel having received support under Articles 32(1)(b), 36, 39(1)(a), or 40(2)
of this Regulation shall not transfer the vessel to a third country outside the
Union during at least 5 years following the date of actual payment to the
beneficiary.

2.           Operating costs are not
eligible unless otherwise expressly provided for in this Chapter.

Article 28
Innovation

1.           In order to stimulate
innovation in fisheries, the EMFF may support projects aiming at developing or
introducing new or substantially improved products compared to the state of
art, new or improved processes, new or improved management and organisation
systems.

2.           Operations financed under
this Article must be carried out in collaboration with a scientific or technical
body recognised by the Member State which shall validate the results of such
operations.

3.           The results of operations
financed under this Article shall be subject to adequate publicity by the
Member State according to Article 12043.

Article 29
Advisory services

1.           In order to improve the
overall performance and competitiveness of operators, the EMFF may support:

(a)
feasibility studies assessing the viability of
projects potentially eligible for support under this Chapter;

(b)
the provision of professional advice on business
and marketing strategies.

2.           The feasibility studies
and advice referred to respectively in paragraph 1(a) and (b) shall be provided
by recognised scientific or technical bodies with the required advisory
competences as recognised by the national law of each Member State.

3.           The support referred to in
paragraph 1 shall be granted to operators or organisations of fishermen,
recognised by the Member State, who commissioned the feasibility study referred
to in paragraph 1.

4.           Member States shall ensure
that operations to be financed under this Article are selected through an
accelerated procedure.

5.           The support referred to in
paragraph 1 shall take the form of lump sums not exceeding the amount of 3 000
Euro. This limit shall not apply when the beneficiary is an organisation of
fishermen.

Article 30
Partnerships between
scientists and fishermen

1.           In order to foster the
transfer of knowledge between scientists and fishermen, the EMFF may support:

(a)
the creation of a network composed by one or more
independent scientific bodies and fishermen or one or more organisations of
fishermen;

(b)
the activities carried out by a network as
referred in point (a).

2.           Activities referred to in
paragraph 1(b) may cover data collection activities, studies, dissemination of
knowledge and best practices.

3.           The support referred to in
paragraph 1 may be granted to public law bodies, fishermen, organisations of
fishermen and non-governmental organisations recognised by the Member State or
FLAGs as defined under Article 62.

Article 31
Promoting human capital
and social dialogue

1.           In order to promote human
capital and social dialogue, the EMFF may support:

(a)
lifelong learning, dissemination of scientific
knowledge and innovative practices, and acquisition of new professional skills
in particular linked to the sustainable management of marine ecosystems,
activities in the maritime sector, innovation and entrepreneurship;

(b)
networking and exchange of experience and best
practice between stakeholders including among organisations promoting equal
opportunities between men and women;

(c)
promoting the social dialogue at national,
regional or local level involving fishermen and other relevant stakeholders.

2.           The support referred to in
paragraph 1 shall also be granted to spouses of self-employed fishermen or,
when and in so far as recognised by national law, the life partners of
self-employed fishermen, not being employees or business partners, where they
habitually, under the conditions laid down by national law, participate in the
activities of the self-employed fishermen or perform ancillary tasks.

Article 32
Facilitating
diversification and job creation

1.           In order to facilitate
diversification and job creation outside fishing, the EMFF may support:

(a)
business start-ups outside fishing;

(b)
retrofitting of small scale coastal fishing
vessels in order to reassign them for activities outside fishing.

2.           Support under paragraph 1
(a) shall be granted to fishermen who:

(a)
submit a business plan for the development of
their new activities;

(b)
possess adequate professional skills which may
be acquired through operations financed under Article 31(1)(a).

3.           Support under paragraph
1(b) shall be granted to small scale coastal fishermen owning a Union fishing
vessel registered as active and which have carried out fishing activities at
sea at least 60 days during the two years preceding the date of submission of
the application. The fishing licence associated with the fishing vessel shall
be permanently withdrawn.

4.           Beneficiaries of the
support referred to in paragraph 1 shall not engage in professional fishing in
the five years following the reception of the last payment of the support.

5.           Eligible costs under
paragraph 1(b) shall be limited to the costs of modification of a vessel
undertaken for the purpose of its reassignment.

6.           The amount of financial
assistance granted under paragraph 1 (a) shall not exceed 50% of the budget
foreseen in the business plan for each operation and shall not exceed a maximum
amount of 50 000 EUR for each operation.

Article 33
Health and safety on board

1.           In order to improve
working conditions on board for fishermen the EMFF may support investments on
board or in individual equipments providing that these investments go beyond
standards required under national or Union law.

2.           The support shall be
granted to fishermen or owners of fishing vessels.

3.           When the operation
consists in an investment on board, the support shall not be granted more than
once during the programming period for the same fishing vessel. When the
operation consists of an investment in individual equipment, the support shall
not be granted more than once during the programming period for the same
beneficiary.

4.           The Commission shall be
empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 12750 in order to identify the
types of operations eligible under paragraph 1.

Article 34
Support to systems of
transferable fishing concessions of the CFP

1.           In order to establish or
modify systems of transferable fishing concessions under Article 27 of the
[Regulation on the CFP], the EMFF may support:

(a)
the design and development of technical and
administrative means necessary for the creation or functioning of a
transferable fishing concessions system;

(b)
stakeholder participation in designing and
developing transferable fishing concessions systems;

(c)
the monitoring and evaluation of transferable
fishing concessions systems;

(d)
the management of transferable concessions
systems.

2.           Support under paragraph 1
(a), (b) and (c) shall only be granted to public authorities. Support under
paragraph 1 (d) of this Article shall be granted to public authorities legal or
natural persons or recognized producer organizations involved in collective
management of pooled transferable fishing concessions in accordance with
Article 28(4) of the Regulation on Common Fisheries.

Article 35
Support to the
implementation of conservation measures under the CFP

1.           In order to ensure
efficient implementation of conservation measures under Articles 17 and 21 of
the [Regulation on Common Fisheries Policy] the EMFF may support:

(a)
the design and development of technical and
administrative means necessary for the implementation of conservation measures
in the meaning of Articles 17 and 21 of the [Regulation on Common Fisheries
Policy];

(b)
stakeholder participation in designing and
implementing conservation measures in the meaning of Articles 17 and 21 of the
[Regulation on Common Fisheries Policy]

2.           The support referred to in
paragraph 1 shall only be granted to public authorities.

Article 36
Limiting the impact of
fishing on the marine environment

1.           In order to reduce the
impact of fishing on the marine environment, foster the elimination of discards
and facilitate the transition to exploitation of living marine biological
resources that restores and maintains populations of harvested species above
levels which can produce the MSY, the EMFF may support investments in
equipment:

(a)
improving size selectivity or species
selectivity of fishing gear;

(b)
reducing unwanted catches of commercial stocks
or other by-catches;

(c)
limiting the physical and biological impacts of
fishing on the ecosystem or the sea bed.

2            Support shall not be
granted more than once during the programming period for the same Union fishing
vessel and for the same type of equipment.

3.           Support shall only be
granted when the gear or other equipment referred under paragraph 1 has
demonstrably better size-selection or lower impact on non-target species than
the standard gear or other equipment permitted under Union law or relevant
national law of Member States adopted in the context of regionalisation as
referred to in the [Regulation on the CFP].

4.           Support shall be granted
to:

(a)
owners of Union fishing vessels whose vessels
are registered as active vessels and which have carried a fishing activity of
at least 60 days at sea during the two years preceding the date of submission
of the application;

(b)
fishermen who own the gear to be replaced and
who have worked on board of a Union fishing vessel for at least 60 days during
the two years preceding the date of submission of the application;

(c)
organisations of fishermen recognised by the
Member State.

Article 37
Innovation linked to the
conservation of marine biological resources

1.           In order to contribute to
the elimination of discards and by-catches and facilitate the transition to
exploitation of living marine biological resources that restores and maintains
populations of harvested species above levels which can produce the MSY, the
EMFF may support projects aiming at developing or introducing new technical or
organisational knowledge reducing impacts of fishing activities on the
environment or achieving a more sustainable use of marine biological resources.

2.           Operations financed under
this Article must be carried out in collaboration with a scientific or
technical body recognised by the national law of each Member State which shall
validate the results of such operations.

3.           The results of operations
financed under this Article shall be the subject to adequate publicity by the
Member State according to Article 12043.

4.           Fishing vessels involved
in projects financed under this Article shall not exceed 5% of the vessels of
the national fleet or 5% of the national fleet tonnage in gross tonnage,
calculated at the time of submission of the application.

5.           Operations consisting of
testing new fishing gear or techniques shall be carried out within the limits
of the fishing opportunities allocated to the Member State.

6.           The net revenue generated
by the participation of the fishing vessel in the operation shall be deducted
from the eligible expenditure of the operation.

7.           The Commission shall be
empowered to adopt delegated act in accordance with Article 12750 in order to specify the calculation of net revenue
referred to in paragraph 6 linked to a relevant period of time.

Article 38
Protection and restoration
of marine biodiversity and ecosystems in the framework of sustainable fishing
activities

1.           In order to stimulate the
participation of fishermen in the protection and restoration of marine
biodiversity and ecosystems including the services they provide in the
framework of sustainable fishing activities, the EMFF may support the following
operations:

(a)
collection of waste from the sea such as the
removal of lost fishing gears and marine litter;

(b)
the construction or installation of static or
movable facilities intended to protect and enhance marine fauna and flora;

(c)
the contribution to a better management or
conservation of resources;

(d)
management, restoration and monitoring NATURA
2000 sites in accordance with Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the
conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora[27] and Council and European
Parliament Directive 2009/147/EC of 30 November 2009 on the conservation of
wild birds[28],
in accordance with prioritised action frameworks established pursuant to
Council Directive 92/43/EEC;

(e)
management, restoration and monitoring of marine
protected areas in view of the implementation of the spatial protection
measures referred to in Article 13(4) of the European Parliament and Council
Directive 2008/56/EC;

(f)
the participation in other actions aimed at
maintaining and enhancing biodiversity and ecosystem services, such as the
restoration of specific marine and coastal habitats in support of sustainable
fish stocks.

2.           Operations under this
Article shall be implemented by public law bodies and shall involve fishermen
or organisations of fishermen, recognised by the Member State, or
non-governmental organisation in partnership with organisations of fishermen or
FLAGs as defined under Article 62.

3.           The Commission shall be
empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 12750 in order to:

(a)
identify the types of operations eligible under
paragraph 1 of this Article;

(b)
specify the eligible costs under paragraph 1.

Article 39
Mitigation of climate
change

1.           In order to mitigate the
effects of climate change the EMFF may support:

(a)
investments on board aimed at reducing the
emission of pollutants or green-house gases and increasing energy efficiency of
fishing vessels;

(b)
energy efficiency audits and schemes.

2.           Support shall not
contribute to the replacement or modernisation of main or ancillary engines.
Support shall only be granted to owners of fishing vessels and not more than
once during the programming period for the same fishing vessel.

3.           The Commission shall be
empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 12750 in order to define the
investments eligible under paragraph 1(a).

Article 40
Product quality and use of
unwanted catches

1.           In order to improve the
quality of the fish caught the EMFF may support investments on board for this
purpose.

2.           In order to improve the
use of unwanted catches the EMFF may support investments on board to make the
best use of unwanted catches of commercial stocks and valorise underused
components of fish caught, in line with Article 15 of the [Regulation on Common
Fisheries Policy] and Article 8(b) of the [Regulation (EU) No on the common
organisation of the markets in fishery and aquaculture products].

3.           Support under this Article
shall not be granted more than once during the programming period for the same
fishing vessel or the same beneficiary.

4.           The support referred to in
paragraph 1 shall only be granted to owners of Union fishing vessels whose
vessels are which have carried a fishing activity for at least 60 days at sea
during the two years preceding the date of submission of the application.

Article 41
Fishing ports, landing
sites and shelters

1.           For the purpose of
increasing the quality of the product landed, increasing energy efficiency,
contributing to environmental protection or improving safety and working
conditions, the EMFF may support investments improving fishing port
infrastructure or landing sites, including investments in facilities for waste
and marine litter collection.

2.           In order to facilitate the
use of unwanted catches the EMFF may support investments in fishing ports and
landing sites which enable to make the best use of unwanted catches of
commercial stocks and which valorise under-used components of the fish caught,
in line with Article 15 of the [Regulation on Common Fisheries Policy] and
Article 8(b) of the [Regulation (EU) No on the common organisation of the
markets in fishery and aquaculture products].

3.           In order to improve the
safety of fishermen, the EMFF may support investments for the construction or
modernisation of shelters.

4.           Support shall not cover
the construction of new ports, new landing sites or new auction halls.

Article 42
Inland Fishing

1.           In order to reduce the
impact of inland fishing on the environment, increase energy efficiency,
increase the quality of fish landed, or to improve safety or working
conditions, the EMFF may support the following investments:

(a)
on board or in individual equipment as referred
to in Article 33 and under the conditions set out in that Article;

(b)
in equipment as referred to in Article 36 and
under the conditions set out in that Article;

(c)
on board and energy efficiency audits and
schemes as foreseen in Article 39 and under the same conditions set out in that
Article;

(d)
on existing ports and landing sites as referred
to in Article 41 and under the conditions set out in that Article.

2            For the purposes of
paragraph 1:

(a)
References made in Articles 33, 36 and 39 to
fishing vessels shall be understood as references to vessels operating exclusively
in inland water;

(b)
References made in Article 36 to the marine
environment shall be understood as references to the environment in which the
inland fishing vessel operates.

3.           In order to sustain
diversification by inland fishermen, the EMFF may support the reassignment of
vessels operating in inland fishing to other activities outside fishing under
the conditions of Article 32 of this Regulation.

4.           For the purposes of
paragraph 3, references made in Article 32 to fishing vessels shall be
understood as references to vessels operating exclusively in inland water.

5.           In order to protect and
develop aquatic fauna and flora, the EMFF may support the participation of
inland fishermen in managing, restoring and monitoring NATURA 2000 sites where
these areas directly concern fishing activities as well as the rehabilitation
of inland waters, including spawning grounds and migration routes for migratory
species, without prejudice of Article 38(1)(d).

6.           Member States shall ensure
that vessels receiving support under this Article continue to operate
exclusively in inland waters.

CHAPTER II
Sustainable development of aquaculture

Article 43
Specific objectives

Support under this Chapter shall contribute
to achieving the Union priorities identified in Article 6(2) and (4).

Article 44
General conditions

1.           Support under this Chapter
shall be limited to aquaculture enterprises unless otherwise expressly
established.

2.           Where operations consist
of investments in equipment or infrastructure ensuring compliance with requirements
on the environment, human or animal health, hygiene or animal welfare under
Union law, and entering into force after 2014, may be granted until the date on
which the standards become mandatory for the enterprises.

Article 45
Innovation

1.           In order to stimulate
innovation in aquaculture, the EMFF may support operations:

(a)
introducing new technical or organisational
knowledge in aquaculture farms which reduces their impact on the environment or
fosters a more sustainable use of resources in aquaculture;

(b)
developing or introducing in the market new or
substantially improved products compared to the state of art, new or improved
processes, new or improved management and organisation systems.

2.           Operations under this
Article must be carried out in collaboration with a scientific or technical
body as recognised by the national law of each Member State which shall
validate the results of such operations.

3.           The results of operations
receiving support shall be subject to adequate publicity by the Member State
according to Article 12043.

Article 46
Investments in off-shore
and non-food aquaculture

1.           In order to foster forms
of aquaculture with high growth potential, the EMFF may support investment in
the development of off-shore or non food aquaculture.

2.           The Commission shall be
empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 12750 in order to identify the
type of operations and the eligible costs.

Article 47
New forms of income and
added value

1.           In order to foster
entrepreneurship in aquaculture, the EMFF may support investments contributing
to:

(a)
adding value to aquaculture products, in
particular by allowing the aquaculture enterprise to carry out the processing,
marketing and direct sale of its own aquaculture production;

(b)
diversification of the income of aquaculture
enterprises through the development of new aquaculture species with good market
prospects;

(c)
diversification of the income of aquaculture
enterprises through the development of complementary activities outside
aquaculture.

2.           Support under paragraph
1(c) shall be granted only to aquaculture enterprises provided that the
complementary activities outside aquaculture relate to the core aquaculture
business of enterprise, such as angling tourism, aquaculture environmental
services or educational activities on aquaculture.

Article 48
Management, relief and
advisory services for aquaculture farms

1.           In order to improve the
overall performance and competitiveness of aquaculture farms, the EMFF may
support:

(a)
the setting up management, relief and advisory
services for aquaculture farms;

(b)
the provision of farm advisory services of
technical, scientific, legal or economic nature.

2.           Advisory services under
paragraph 1(b) shall cover:

(a)
the management needs for aquaculture to comply
with Union and national environmental protection legislation as well as
Maritime Spatial Planning requirements;

(b)
Environmental Impact Assessment;

(c)
the management needs for aquaculture to comply
with Union aquatic animal health and welfare or public health legislation;

(d)
health and safety standards based on Union and
national legislation;

(e)
marketing and business strategies.

3.           Support under paragraph
(1)(a) shall only be granted to public law bodies selected to set up the farm
advisory services. Support under paragraph (1)(b) shall only be granted to
aquaculture SMEs or aquaculture producer's organisations.

4.           Aquaculture farms shall
not receive support for the advisory services more than once for each category
of services covered under paragraph 2 (a) to (e) during the programming period.

Article 49
Promoting human capital
and networking

1.           In order to promote human
capital and networking in aquaculture, the EMFF may support:

(a)
lifelong learning, dissemination of scientific
knowledge and innovative practices and acquisition of new professional skills
in aquaculture;

(b)
networking and exchange of experience and best
practice among aquaculture enterprises or professional organisations and other
stakeholders, including scientific bodies or those promoting equal
opportunities between men and women.

2.           Support referred to in
paragraph 1(a) shall not be granted to large aquaculture enterprises.

Article 50
Increasing the potential
of aquacultures sites

1.           In order to contribute to
the development of the aquaculture sites and infrastructures, the EMFF may
support:

(a)
identification and mapping of most suitable
areas for developing aquaculture, and where applicable, taking into account
maritime spatial planning processes;

(b)
improvement of infrastructures of aquaculture
areas including through land consolidation, energy supply or water management;

(c)
action taken and implemented by competent
authorities under of Article 9(1) of Directive 2009/147/EC or Article 16(1) of
Directive 92/43/EC with the aim of preventing serious damages to aquaculture.

2.           Beneficiaries of support
under this Article shall only be public law bodies.

Article 51
Encouraging new
aquaculture farmers

1.           In order to foster
entrepreneurship in aquaculture, the EMFF may support the setting up of
aquaculture enterprises by new starting farmers.

2.           Support 1 shall be granted
to aquaculture farmers entering the sector provided that they:

(a)
possess adequate professional skills and
competence;

(b)
are setting up for the first time an aquaculture
micro or small enterprise as heads of such enterprise;

(c)
submit a business plan for the development of
their aquaculture activities.

3.           In order to acquire
adequate professional skills, aquaculture farmers entering the sector may
benefit from support under Article 49(1)(a).

Article 52
Promotion of aquaculture
with high level of environmental protection

In order to substantially reduce the impact
of aquaculture on the environment the EMFF may support investments:

(a)
allowing for a substantial reduction of impact
of aquaculture enterprises on water, in particular through reducing the amount
of water used or improving the output water quality, including through the
deployment of multi-trophic aquaculture systems;

(b)
limiting the negative impact of aquaculture
enterprises on nature or biodiversity;

(c)
the purchase of the equipment protecting
aquaculture farms from wild predators benefitting from protection under Council
and European Parliament Directive 2009/147/EEC and Council Directive 92/43/EC;

(d)
increasing energy efficiency and promoting
conversion of aquaculture enterprises to renewable sources of energy;

(e)
the restoration of existing aquaculture ponds or
lagoons through removal of silt, or possible measures aimed at the prevention
of silt deposition.

Article 53
Conversion to
eco-management and audit schemes and organic aquaculture

1.           In order to promote the
development of organic or energy efficient aquaculture, the EMFF may support:

(a)
conversion of conventional aquaculture
production methods into organic aquaculture within the meaning of Council
Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 of 28 June 2007 on organic production and labelling
of organic products and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91[29] and according to Commission
Regulation (EC) No 710/2009 of 5 August 2009 amending Regulation (EC) No
889/2008 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council
Regulation (EC) No 834/2007, as regards laying down detailed rules on organic
aquaculture animal and seaweed production[30];

(b)
the participation in the Union eco-management
and audit schemes established by Regulation (EC) No 761/2001 of the European
parliament and of the council of 19 March 2001 allowing voluntary participation
by organisations in a Community eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS)[31].

2.           Support shall only be
granted to beneficiaries who commit themselves for a minimum of 3 years to participate
in the EMAS or for a minimum of 5 years to comply with the requirements of
organic production.

3.           Support shall take the
form of compensation for a maximum of two years during the period of the
conversion of the enterprise to organic production or during the preparation
for participation in the EMAS scheme.

4.           Member States shall
calculate the compensation on the basis of:

(a)
the loss of revenue or additional costs incurred
during the period of transition from conventional into organic production for
operations eligible under paragraph 1(a) of this Article;

(b)
the additional costs resulting from the
application and preparation to the participation in EMAS in the case of
operations eligible under paragraph 1(b).

Article 54
Aquaculture providing
environmental services

1.           In order to foster the
development of aquaculture providing environmental services, the EMFF may
support:

(a)
aquaculture methods compatible with specific
environmental needs and subject to specific management requirements resulting
from the designation of NATURA 2000 areas in accordance with Council Directive
92/43/EEC and Council and European Parliament Directive 2009/147/EC;

(b)
participation in ex-situ conservation and
reproduction of aquatic animals, within the framework of conservation and biodiversity
restoration programmes developed by public authorities, or under their
supervision;

(c)
forms of extensive aquaculture including
conservation and improvement of the environment, biodiversity, and management
of the landscape and traditional features of aquaculture zones.

2.           Support under paragraph 1 (a)
shall take the form of annual compensation for the additional costs incurred or
income foregone resulting from management requirements in the areas concerned,
related to the implementation of Council Directive 92/43/EEC or Council and
European Parliament Directive 2009/147/EC.

3.           Support under paragraph 1 (c)
shall be granted only where beneficiaries commit themselves for a minimum of
five years to aqua-environmental requirements that go beyond the mere
application of Union and national law. The environmental benefits of the
operation shall be demonstrated by a prior assessment conducted by competent
bodies designated by the Member State, unless the environmental benefits of a
given operation are already recognised.

4.           Support provided under paragraph
1 (c) shall take the form of annual compensation for the additional costs
incurred.

5.           The results of operations
receiving support under this Article shall be subject to adequate publicity by
the Member State according to Article 12043.

Article 55
Public health measures

1.           The EMFF shall support
compensation to mollusc farmers for the temporary suspension of harvesting of
farmed molluscs exclusively for reasons of public health.

2.           Support may only be
granted where the suspension of harvesting due to contamination of molluscs is
the result of the proliferation of toxin-producing plankton or the presence of
plankton containing biotoxins, and when:

(a)     it lasts for more than four months
consecutively; or

(b)     the loss, resulting from the
suspension of the harvest, amounts to more than 35 % of the annual turnover of
the business concerned, calculated on the basis of the average turnover of the
business over the preceding three years.

3.           The duration for which
compensation may be granted shall be of maximum 12 months over the entire
programming period.

Article 56
Animal health and welfare
measures

1.           In order to foster animal
health and welfare in aquaculture enterprises, particularly in terms of
prevention and bio-security, the EMFF may support:

(a)
the control and eradication of diseases in
aquaculture under the terms of Council Decision 2009/470/EC on expenditure in
the veterinary field;

(b)
the development of general and species specific
best practices or codes of conducts on bio-security or on animal welfare needs
in aquaculture;

(c)
increasing the availability of veterinary
medicines for its use in aquaculture and promoting appropriate use of such
medicines through the commissioning of pharmaceutical studies and the dissemination
and exchange of information.

2.           Support under paragraph
1(c) shall not cover the purchase of veterinary medicines.

3.           The results of the studies
financed under paragraph 1(c) shall be the subject to adequate reporting and
publicity by the Member State according to Article 12043.

4.           Support may also be
granted to public law bodies.

Article 57
Aquaculture stock
insurance

1.           In order to safeguard the
income of aquaculture producers the EMFF may support the contribution to an
aquaculture stock insurance which shall cover the losses due to:

(a)
natural disasters;

(b)
adverse climatic events;

(c)
sudden water quality changes;

(d)
diseases in aquaculture or destruction of
production facilities.

2.           The occurrence of an
adverse climatic event or the outbreak of disease in aquaculture shall be
formally recognised as such by the Member State concerned.

Member States may, where appropriate, establish
in advance criteria on the basis of which such formal recognition shall be
deemed to be granted.

3.           Support shall only be
granted for aquaculture stock insurance contracts which cover economic losses
under paragraph 1 exceeding 30% of the average annual production of the
aquaculture farmer.

CHAPTER III
Sustainable development of fisheries areas

Section 1
Scope and objectives

Article 58
Scope

The EMFF shall support the sustainable
development of fisheries areas following a community-led local development
approach as set out in Article 28 of the [Regulation (EU) No [...] laying down
Common Provisions].

Article 59
Specific Objectives

Financial support under this Chapter shall
contribute to the achievement of the Union priorities identified in Article
6(1).

Section 2
Fisheries areas, local partnerships and local development strategies

Article 60
Fisheries areas

1.           A fisheries area eligible
for support shall be:

(a)
limited in size and, as a general rule, shall be
smaller than NUTS level 3 of the common classification of territorial units for
statistics within the meaning of Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of 26 May 2003 of
the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 May 2003 on the establishment
of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS)[32]; and

(b)
functionally coherent in geographical, economic
and social terms, taking specific account of the fisheries and aquaculture sectors
and offer sufficient critical mass in terms of human, financial end economic
resources to support a viable local development strategy..

2.           In the operational
programme Member States shall lay down the procedure for selecting the areas
including the criteria applied.

Article 61
Integrated local
development strategies

1.           For the purposes of the
EMFF, the integrated local development strategy referred to in Article 28(1)(c)
of [Regulation (EU) No […] laying down Common
Provisions] shall be based on the interaction between actors and projects of
different sectors of the local economy, in particular the fisheries and
aquaculture sectors;

2.           In order to contribute to
the achievement of the objectives referred to in Article 59 local development
strategies shall :

(a)
maximise the participation of the fisheries and
aquaculture sectors in the sustainable development of coastal and inland
fisheries areas;

(b)
ensure that local communities fully exploit and
benefit from the opportunities offered by maritime and coastal development.

3.           The strategy must be
coherent with the opportunities and needs identified in the area and the Union
priorities for the EMFF. Strategies may range from those which focus on
fisheries to broader strategies directed at the diversification of fisheries
areas. The strategy shall go beyond a mere collection of operations or
juxtaposition of sectoral measures.

4.           To be eligible for EMFF
funding the integrated local development strategy referred to in Article 29 of
the [Regulation (EU) No […] laying down Common
Provisions] shall also contain as a minimum the following elements:

(a)
a description and justification of the
membership of the FLAG;

(b)
a justification of the proposed EMFF budget and
allocation of resources between the local priorities identified.

5.           The Commission shall be
empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 12750 concerning the content of
the action plan referred to in Article 29(1)(e) of the [Regulation (EU) No […] laying down Common Provisions].

6.           Member States shall define
in the operational programme criteria for the selection of local development
strategies, which reflect the added value of the community-led approach.

Article 62
Fisheries local action
groups

1.           For the purposes of the
EMFF the local action groups referred to in Article 28(1)(b) of [Regulation
(EU) No […] laying down Common Provisions] shall be designated as Fisheries
Local Action Groups (hereinafter "FLAGs")

2.           The FLAGs shall propose an
integrated local development strategy based at least on the elements set out in
Article 61 and be responsible for its implementation.

3.           The FLAGs shall:

(a)
broadly reflect the main focus of their strategy
and the socio-economic composition of the area through a balanced
representation of the main stakeholders, including private sector, public
sector and civil society;

(b)
ensure a significant representation of fisheries
and aquaculture sectors.

4.           If the local development
strategy is supported by other Funds in addition to the EMFF a specific
selection body for EMFF supported projects shall be established according to
the criteria set out in paragraph (3).

5.           The minimum tasks of FLAGs
are set out in Article 30(3) of the [Regulation (EU)
No […] laying down Common Provisions]:

6.           FLAGs may also carry out
additional tasks delegated to them by the managing authority and/or the paying agency.

7.           The respective roles of
the FLAG, the managing authority /the paying agency
for all implementation tasks relating to the strategy shall be clearly
described in the operational programme.

Section 3
Eligible operations

Article 63
Support from the EMFF for
integrated local development

1.           The operations eligible
under this Section are set out in Article 31 of the [Regulation
(EU) No […] laying down Common Provisions].

2.           Local action groups may
request the payment of an advance from the competent paying
agency managing authority if such
possibility is provided for in the operational programme. The amount of the
advances shall not exceed 50% of the public support related to the running
costs.

Article 64
Preparatory support

1.           Preparatory support shall
cover capacity building, training and networking with a view to preparing and
implementing a local development strategy.

2.           The Commission shall be
empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 12750 concerning the definition of
eligible costs of the activities under paragraph 1.

Article 65
Implementation of local
development strategies

1.           Support for the
implementation of local development strategies may be granted for the following
objectives :

(a)
adding value, creating jobs, and promoting
innovation at all stages of the fisheries and aquaculture supply chain;

(b)
supporting diversification and job creation in
fisheries areas, in particular in other maritime sectors;

(c)
enhancing and capitalising on the environmental
assets of the fisheries areas including operations to mitigate climate change;

(d)
promoting social well being and cultural
heritage in fisheries areas including maritime cultural heritage;

(e)
strengthening the role of fisheries communities
in local development and the governance of local fisheries resources and
maritime activities.

2.           The support given may
include measures provided for Chapters I and II of this Title, provided there
is a clear rational for their management at local level. When assistance is
granted for operations corresponding to these measures, the relevant conditions
and the scales of contribution per operation laid down in Chapters I and II of
this Title shall apply.

Article 66
Cooperation activities

1.           Support referred to in Article
31(c) of the [Regulation (EU) No […] laying
down Common Provisions] may be granted to:

(a)
inter-territorial or transnational cooperation
projects;

(b)
preparatory technical support for
inter-territorial and transnational cooperation projects, on condition that
local action groups can demonstrate that they are preparing the implementation
of a project.

“Inter-territorial cooperation” means
cooperation within a Member State. “Transnational cooperation” means
cooperation between territories in several Member States and with territories
in third countries.

2.           Apart from other FLAGs,
the partners of a FLAG under the EMFF may be a local public-private partnership
that is implementing a local development strategy within or outside the Union.

3.           In cases where co-operation
projects are not selected by the FLAGs, Member States shall establish a system
of ongoing application for cooperation projects. They shall make public the
national or regional administrative procedures concerning the selection of
transnational cooperation projects and a list of eligible costs at the latest
two years after the date of approval of their operational programme.

4.           Approval of cooperation
projects shall take place no later than four months after the date of
submission of the project.

5.           Member States shall
communicate to the Commission the approved transnational cooperation projects.

Article 67
Running costs and
animation

1.           Running costs referred to
in Article 31(d) of the [Regulation (EU) No […] laying
down Common Provisions] shall be linked to the management of the implementation
of the local development strategy through the FLAG.

2.           Costs for the animation of
the fisheries area referred to in Article 31(d) of the [Regulation (EU) No […] laying down Common Provisions] shall cover
operations to inform about the local development strategy as well as project
development tasks.

3.           The Commission shall be
empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 12750 concerning the
definition of eligible costs of the operations referred to in paragraphs 1 and
2.

CHAPTER IV
Marketing and processing related measures

Article 68
Specific Objectives

Support under this Chapter shall contribute
to achieve the specific objectives of Chapter I and Chapter II of this Title.

Article 69
Production and Marketing
Plans

1.           The EMFF may support the
preparation and implementation of production and marketing plans referred to in
Article 32 of [Regulation (EU) No on the common organisation of the markets in
fishery and aquaculture products].

2.           Expenditure related to
production and marketing plans shall be eligible for a contribution under the
EMFF only after approval by the competent authorities in each Member State of
the annual report referred to in Article 32(4) of [Regulation (EU) No on the
common organisation of the markets in fishery and aquaculture products].

3.           Support granted per year
under this Article shall not exceed 3 % of the average annual value of the
marketed production at first sale of each producer organisation in the period
2009-2011. For any newly recognised producer organisation, the support granted
per year shall not exceed 3 % of the average annual value of the marketed
production at first sale of their members in the period 2009-2011.

4.           The Member State concerned
may grant an advance of 50% of the financial assistance after approval of the
production and marketing plan in conformity with Article 32(2) of [Regulation
(EU) No on the common organisation of the markets in fishery and aquaculture
products].

5.           The support referred to in
paragraph 1 shall be granted to producer organisations and associations of
producers organisations.

Article 70
Storage aid

1.           The EMFF may support
compensation to recognised producer organisations and associations of producers
organisations which store fishery products listed in Annex II of Regulation No.
[ on the common organisation of the market in fishery and aquaculture
products], provided that the products are stored in conformity with Articles 35
and 36 of Regulation No …[on the common organisation of the markets in fishery
and aquaculture products]:

(a)
the amount of the storage aid shall not exceed
the amount of the technical and financial costs of the actions required for the
stabilisation and storage of the products in question;

(b)
the quantities eligible for storage aid shall
not exceed 15 % of the annual quantities of the products concerned put up for
sale by the producer organisation;

(c)
the financial assistance per year shall not
exceed the following percentages of the average annual value of the marketed production
at first sale of the members of producer organisation in the period 2009-2011.
In the case that members of producer organisation did not have any marketed
production in 2009-2011, the average annual value of marketed production in the
first three years of production of such member shall be taken into account:

–
1 % in 2014

–
0,8 % in 2015

–
0,6 % in 2016

–
0,4 % in 2017

–
0,2 % in 2018

2.           By 2019 support referred
to in paragraph 1 shall be phased out.

3.           The support shall only be
granted once the products are released for human
consumption.

4.           Member States shall fix
the amount of the technical and financial costs applicable in their territories
as follows:

(a)
technical costs shall be calculated each year on
the basis of direct costs relating to the actions required for stabilisation
and storage;

(b)
financial costs shall be calculated each year
using the interest rate set annually in each Member State;

(c)
technical and financial costs shall be made
publicly available.

5.           Member States shall carry
out controls to ensure that the products benefiting from storage aid fulfil the
conditions laid down in this Article. For the purposes of these inspection
arrangements, beneficiaries of storage aid shall keep stock records for each
category of products entered into storage and later reintroduced onto the
market for human consumption.

Article 71
Marketing measures

1.           The EMFF may support
marketing measures for fishery and aquaculture products which aim at:

(a)
improving the conditions for the placing on the
market of:

(i)      surplus or underexploited species;

(ii)      unwanted catches landed in
conformity with Article 15 of [Regulation on the Common Fisheries Policy] and
Article 8 (b) second indent of the [Regulation (EU)
No on the common organisation of the markets in fishery and aquaculture
products];

(iii)     products obtained using methods with
low impact on the environment or organic aquaculture products as defined in
Council Regulation(EC) No 834/2007 on organic production.

(b)
promoting the quality by facilitating:

(i)      the application for registration of a
given product under the terms of Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 of 20
March 2006 on the protection of geographical indications and designations of
origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs[33];

(ii)      certification and promotion including
of sustainable fishery and aquaculture products and of environmentally friendly
processing methods;

(iii)     direct marketing of fishery products
by small scale coastal fishermen.

(c)
contributing to the transparency of production
and the markets and conducting market surveys;

(d)
drawing up standard contracts which are
compatible with Union law;

(e)
creating producers' organisations, associations
of producer organisations or inter-branch organisations recognised under
Chapter II, Section III of Regulation [on the Common Organisation of the
markets in fisheries and aquaculture products];

(f)
conducting regional, national or transnational
promotional campaigns for fishery and aquaculture products.

2.           Operations under paragraph
(1)(b) may include the integration of production, processing and marketing
activities of the supply chain.

Article 72
Processing of fisheries
and aquaculture products

1.           The EMFF may support
investments in the processing of fisheries and aquaculture products:

(a)
contributing to energy saving or reducing the
impact on the environment, including waste treatment;

(b)
for the processing of species of limited or no
commercial interest;

(c)
for the processing of by-products resulting from
main processing activities;

(d)
for the processing of organic aquaculture
products as regulated in Article 6 and 7 of Council Regulation(EC) No 834/2007.

2.           The support referred to in
paragraph 1 shall be granted exclusively through the financial instruments
provided for in Title IV of the [Regulation (EU) No [...] laying down Common
Provisions].

CHAPTER V
Compensation for additional costs in outermost regions for fishery and
aquaculture products

Article 73
Compensation regime

1.           The EMFF may support the
compensation regime introduced by Council Regulation (EC) No 791/2007 for the
additional costs incurred by the operators in the fishing, farming and
marketing of certain fishery and aquaculture products from the Azores, Madeira,
the Canary Islands, French Guiana, and Réunion.

2.           Each Member State
concerned shall determine for the regions referred to in paragraph 1 the list
of fishery and aquaculture products and the quantity of those products eligible
for the compensation.

3.           When establishing the list
and the quantities referred to in paragraph 2, Member States shall take into
account all the relevant factors, in particular the need to ensure that the
compensation is fully compatible with the rules of the CFP.

4.           The compensation shall not
be granted for fishery and aquaculture products:

(a)
caught by third country vessels, with the
exception of fishing vessels which fly the flag of Venezuela and operate in
Union waters;

(b)
caught by Union fishing vessels that are not
registered in a port of one of the regions referred to in paragraph 1;

(c)
imported from third countries.

5.           Paragraph 4 (b) of this
Article shall not apply if the existing capacity of the processing industry in
the outermost region concerned exceeds the quantity of raw material supplied
according to the rules laid down in this Article.

Article 74
Calculation of the
compensation

The compensation shall be paid to the
operators carrying out activities in the concerned regions and shall take into
account:

(a)
for each fishery or aquaculture product the
additional costs resulting from the specific handicaps of the regions
concerned, and

(b)
any other type of public intervention affecting
the level of additional costs.

Article 75
Compensation plan

1.           The Member States
concerned shall submit to the Commission a compensation plan for each region
concerned including the list and quantities referred to in Article 73, the
level of compensation referred to in Article 74 and the competent authority as
laid down in Article 99108.

2.           The Commission shall be
empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance to Article 12750 in order to define the content of the compensation
plan, including the criteria for the calculation of the additional costs
resulting from the specific handicaps of the regions concerned.

CHAPTER VI
Accompanying measures for the Common Fisheries Policy under shared management

Article 76
Geographical scope

By way of derogation from Article 2 of this
Regulation, this Chapter shall apply also to operations carried out outside the
territory of the European Union.

Article 77
Specific Objectives

Measures under this Chapter shall support
the implementation of Articles 37 and 46 of the Regulation [on the CFP].

Article 78
Control and Enforcement

1.           The EMFF may support the
implementation of a Union control, inspection and enforcement system as
provided for in Article 46 of the [Regulation on the Common Fisheries Policy]
and specified in Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 of 20 November 2009
establishing a Union control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of
the Common Fisheries Policy ([34]).

2.           In particular, the
following types of operations shall be eligible:

(a)
purchase or development of technology, including
hardware and software, vessel detection systems (VDS), CCTV systems and IT
networks enabling the gathering, administration, validation, analysis and
exchange of, and the development of sampling methods for, data related to
fisheries, as well as interconnection to cross-sectoral data exchange systems;

(b)
purchase and installation of the components
necessary to ensure data transmission from actors involved in fishing and the
marketing of fishery products to the relevant Member State and EU authorities,
including the necessary components for electronic recording and reporting
systems (ERS), vessel monitoring systems (VMS), and automatic identification
systems (AIS) used for control purposes;

(c)
purchase and installation of the components
necessary to ensure traceability of fishery and aquaculture products, as
defined in Article. 58 of
Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009;

(d)
implementation of programs aiming at exchanging
and analysing data between Member States;

(e)
modernisation and purchase of patrol vessels,
aircrafts and helicopters, provided they are used at least 60% of the time for
fisheries control;

(f)
purchase of other control means, including
devices to enable the measurement of engine power and weighing equipment;

(g)
implementation of pilot projects related to
fisheries control, including fish DNA analysis or the development of web-sites
related to control;

(h)
training and exchange programmes, including
between Member States, of personnel responsible for monitoring, control and
surveillance of fisheries activities;

(i)
cost/benefit analysis as well as assessment of
audits performed and expenditure incurred by competent authorities in carrying
out monitoring, control and surveillance;

(j)
initiatives, including seminars and media
tools, aimed at enhancing awareness both among fishermen and other players such
as inspectors, public prosecutors and judges, and among the general public of
the need to fight illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and on the
implementation of the CFP rules.

3.           The measures listed in
points (h), (i) and (j) of paragraph 2 of this Article shall only be eligible
for support if they relate to control activities carried out by a public
authority.

4.           In case of the measures
listed in points (d) and (h) of paragraph 2 of this Article, only one of the
Member States involved shall be designated as paying agency
managing authority.

Article 79
Data Collection

1.           The EMFF shall support the
collection and management and use of primary
biological, technical, environmental and socioeconomic data as in the multiannual Union programme referred to in Article 37(5) of
the [Regulation on the Common Fisheries Policy].

2.           In particular, the
following types of operations shall be eligible:

(a)
the management and use of data for the purpose
of scientific analysis and CFP implementation;

(b)
national multi-annual sampling programmes;

(c)
at-sea monitoring of commercial and recreational
fisheries;

(d)
research surveys-at-sea;

(e)
the participation of Member States'
representatives in regional coordination meetings as referred to in Article
37(4) of the [Regulation on the Common Fisheries Policy], meetings of regional
fisheries management organisations of which the EU is a contracting partner or
an observer or meetings of international bodies in charge of providing
scientific advice.

TITLE VI
MEASURES FINANCED UNDER DIRECT MANAGEMENT

CHAPTER I
Integrated Maritime Policy

Article 80
Geographical scope

By way of derogation from Article 2 of this
Regulation, this Chapter shall apply also to operations carried out outside the
territory of the European Union.

Article 81
Scope and objectives

Support under this Chapter shall contribute
to the development and implementation of the Union's Integrated Maritime
Policy. It shall:

(a)
foster the development and implementation of
integrated governance of maritime and coastal affairs at local, regional,
national, sea basin, EU and international level, in particular by:

(i)      promoting actions which encourage
Member States and EU regions to develop introduce or implement integrated
maritime governance;

(ii)     promoting dialogue and cooperation
with and among Member States and stakeholders on marine and maritime issues,
including by developing sea-basin strategies;

(iii)     promoting cross-sectoral cooperation
platforms and networks, including representatives of
public authorities, regional and local authorities, industry, the tourism
sector, research stakeholders, citizens, civil society organisations and the
social partners;

(iv)    promoting the exchange of best
practices and dialogue at international level, including bilateral dialogue
with third countries without prejudice to other agreements or arrangements
which may exist between the EU and the third countries concerned;

(v)     enhancing the visibility of, and
raising the awareness of public authorities, the private sector and the general
public to an integrated approach to maritime affairs.

(b)
Contribute to the development of cross-sectoral
initiatives that are mutually beneficial to different maritime sectors and/or
sectoral policies, taking into account and building upon existing tools and
initiatives, such as:

(i)      integrated maritime surveillance to
enhance effectiveness and efficiency through information exchange across
sectors and borders while taking due account of existing and future systems;

(ii)     maritime spatial planning and
integrated coastal zone management;

(iii)     the progressive development of a
comprehensive and publicly accessible high quality marine knowledge base which
shall facilitate sharing, re-use and dissemination of these data and knowledge
among various user groups.

(c)
Supporting sustainable economic growth,
employment, innovation and new technologies within emerging and prospective
maritime sectors in coastal regions, in complementarity with established
sectoral and national activities.

(d)
promoting the protection of the marine
environment, in particular its biodiversity and marine
protected areas such as Natura 2000 sites, and the
sustainable use of marine and coastal resources and to further define the
boundaries of the sustainability of human activities that have an impact on the
marine environment, in particular in the framework of the Marine Strategy
Framework Directive.

Article 82
Eligible operations

1.           The EMFF may support
operations in accordance with the objectives set out in Article 81, such as:

(a)
studies;

(b)
projects, including test projects and
cooperation projects;

(c)
public information and sharing best practice,
awareness raising compaigns and associated communication and dissemination
activities such as publicity campaigns, events, the development and maintenance
of websites, stakeholder platforms, including
corporate communication of the political priorities of the Union as far as they are related to the general
objectives of this Regulation;

(d)
conferences, seminars and workshops;

(e)
exchange of best practices, coordination
activities including information sharing networks and steering mechanisms for
sea-basin strategies;

(f)
the development, operation and maintenance of
IT-systems and networks enabling the gathering, administration, validation,
analysis and exchange of, and the development of sampling methods for, data
related to fisheries, as well as interconnection to cross-sectoral data
exchange systems;

2.           In order to achieve the
specific objective of developing cross-sectoral operations set out in Article
81 b), the EMFF may support:

(a)
the development and implementation of technical
tools for integrated maritime surveillance, in particular for supporting the
deployment, operation and maintenance of a decentralised system for exchange of
information in the maritime domain (CISE) , in particular by interconnecting
existing or future systems;

(b)
activities of coordination and cooperation among
Member States to develop maritime spatial planning and integrated coastal zone
management, including expenditure related to systems and practices of data
sharing and monitoring, evaluation activities, the setting up and running of
networks of experts, and the setting up of a programme aiming at building
capacity for Member States to implement maritime spatial planning;

(c)
the technical tools for setting up and running
of an operational European Marine Observation and Data Network aiming to
facilitate the collection, assembling, quality control, re-use and distribution
of marine data through cooperation between the Member states institutions
involved in the network.

CHAPTER II
Accompanying measures for the Common Fisheries Policy and the Integrated
Maritime Policy under direct management

Article 83
Geographical scope

By way of derogation from Article 2 of this
Regulation, this Chapter shall apply also to operations carried out outside the
territory of the European Union.

Article 84
Specific Objectives

Measures under this Chapter shall
facilitate the implementation of the CFP and IMP in particular as regard to:

(a)
scientific advice under CFP;

(b)
specific control and enforcement measures under
CFP;

(c)
voluntary contributions to international
organisations;

(d)
Advisory Councils;

(e)
market intelligence;

(f)
Common Fisheries Policy and Integrated Maritime
Policy communication activities.

Article 85
Scientific Advice and
knowledge

1.           The EMFF may support the
provision of scientific deliverables, particularly applied-research projects
directly linked to the provision of scientific opinions and advice, for the
purpose of sound and efficient fisheries management decisions under the CFP.

2.           In particular, the
following types of operations shall be eligible:

(a)
studies and pilot projects needed for the
implementation and development of the CFP, including on alternative types of
sustainable fishing management techniques;

(b)
the preparation and provision of scientific
opinions and advice by scientific bodies, including international advisory
bodies in charge of stock assessments, by independent experts and by research
institutions;

(c)
the participation of experts in the meetings on
fisheries scientific and technical issues and expert working groups as well as
in international advisory bodies and in meetings where contribution of
fisheries experts will be required;

(d)
expenditure incurred by the Commission for
services related to collection, management and use of data, to the organisation
and management of fisheries expert meetings and the management of annual work
programmes related to fisheries scientific and technical expertise, to the
processing of data calls and datasets, to the preparatory work aiming at
delivering scientific opinions and advice;

(e)
cooperation activities between the Member States
in the field of data collection, including the setting-up and running of
regionalized databases for storage, management and use of data which will
benefit regional cooperation and improve data collection and management
activities as well as the scientific expertise in support of fisheries
management.

Article 86
Control and enforcement

1.           The EMFF may support the
implementation of a Union control, inspection and enforcement system as
stipulated in Article 46 of [Regulation on the Common Fisheries Policy] and
specified in Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 of 20 November 2009
establishing a Union control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of
the Common Fisheries Policy.

2.           In particular, the
following types of operations shall be eligible:

(a)
joint purchase by several Member States
belonging to the same geographical area, of patrol vessels, aircrafts and
helicopters, provided they are used at least 60% of the time for fisheries
control;

(b)
expenditure relating to the assessment and
development of new control technologies;

(c)
all operational expenditure related to
inspection, by Commission inspectors, of the implementation of the CFP by the
Member States, and in particular inspection missions, safety equipment and
training of inspectors, the organization of or participation at meetings and
the charter or purchase by the Commission of inspection means as specified in
Title X of Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 of 20 November 2009.

3.           In case of the measure
listed in point (a) of paragraph 2, only one of the Member States involved
shall be designated as the beneficiary.

Article 87
Voluntary contributions to
international organisations

The EMFF may support the following types of
operations in the area of international relations:

(a)
voluntary funding provided to the United Nations
organisations as well as voluntary funding provided to any international
organisation active in the field of the Law of the Sea;

(b)
voluntary financial contributions to
preparations for new international organisations or preparation of new
international treaties which are of interest to the European Union;

(c)
voluntary financial contributions to work or
programmes carried out by international organisations which are of special
interest to the European Union;

(d)
financial contributions to any activity
(including working, informal or extraordinary meetings of contracting parties)
which upholds the interests of the European Union in international
organisations and strengthens cooperation with its partners in these
organisations. In this connection, when the presence of representatives of
third countries in negotiations and meetings within international forums and
organisations becomes necessary for the European Union interests, the EMFF
shall bear the costs of their participation.

Article 88
Advisory Councils

1.           The EMFF may support
operating costs of the Advisory Councils as set up by Article 52 of [Regulation
on Common Fisheries Policy].

2.           An Advisory Council having
legal personality may apply for Union support as a body pursuing an aim of
general European interest.

Article 89
Market intelligence

The EMFF may support the development and
dissemination of market intelligence for fishery and aquaculture products by
the Commission in accordance with Article 49 of [Regulation (EU) No on the
common organisation of the markets in fishery and aquaculture products].

Article 90
Common Fisheries Policy
and Integrated Maritime Policy communication activities

The EMFF may support:

(a)
costs for information and communication
activities linked to the Common Fisheries Policy and to the Integrated Maritime
Policy, including:

(b)
costs for production, translation and dissemination
of material tailored to the specific needs of the different target groups in
written, audiovisual and electronic format;

(c)
costs for preparation and organisation of events
and meetings to inform or collect the views of the different parties concerned by
the Common Fisheries Policy and the Integrated Maritime Policy.

(d)
travelling and accommodation costs of experts
and stakeholder representatives invited by the
Commission to meetings.

(e)
costs of the corporate
communication of the political priorities of the European Union as far as they are related to the general
objectives of this Regulation.

CHAPTER III
Technical assistance

Article 91
Technical assistance at
the initiative of the Commission

The EMFF may support, at the initiative of
the Commission, subject to the ceiling of 1.1% of this fund:

(a)
the measures of technical assistance specified
in Article 51(1) of the [Regulation (EU) No [...] laying down Common
Provisions] for the implementation of this Regulation ;

(b)
the implementation of sustainable fisheries agreements
and the Union participation in regional fisheries management organisations;

(c)
the setting up of a European network of FLAGs
aiming at capacity building, disseminating information, exchanging experience
and best practice and supporting cooperation between the local partnerships.
This network shall cooperate with the networking and technical support bodies
for local development set up by the EFRD, the ESF and the EAFRD as regards
their local development activities and transnational co-operation.

Article 92
Technical assistance at
the initiative of the Member States

1.           The EMFF may support, at
the initiative of a Member State, subject to a ceiling of 5 % of the total
amount of the operational programme:

(a)     the measures of technical assistance
referred to in Article 52(1) of the [Regulation (EU) No [...] laying down
Common Provisions];

(b)     the establishment of national networks
aiming at disseminating information, capacity building, exchanging best
practice and supporting cooperation between the FLAGs in their territory.

2.           Exceptionally, and in duly
justified circumstances, the threshold referred to in paragraph 1 may be
exceeded.

3.           Costs of certification body audit authorities
shall not be eligible under paragraph 1.

4.           The Commission shall be
empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 12750 concerning the definition of
the activities to be carried out by national networks mentioned in paragraph 1.

TITLE VII
IMPLEMENTATION UNDER SHARED MANAGEMENT

CHAPTER I
General provisions

Article 93
Scope

This Title shall apply to measures financed
under shared management as set out in Title V

CHAPTER II
Delivery mechanism

Section 1
Support from the EMFF

Article 94
Determination of
co-financing rates

1.           The decision of the
Commission approving the operational programme shall set the maximum EMFF
contribution to that programme.

2.           The EMFF contribution
shall be calculated on the basis of the amount of eligible public expenditure.

The operational programme shall establish the
EMFF contribution rate applicable to each of the objectives defined under the
Union priorities for EMFF, as referred to in Article 6. The maximum EMFF
contribution rate shall be 75% of the eligible public expenditure.

The minimum EMFF contribution rate shall be
20%.

3.           By way of derogation from
paragraph 2, the EMFF contribution shall be:

(a)
100 % of the eligible public expenditure for the
support under storage aid referred to in Article 70;

(b)
100 % of the eligible public expenditure for the
compensation regime referred to in Article 73;

(c)
50 % of the eligible public expenditure for the
support referred to in Article 78(2)(e);

(d)
80 % of the eligible public expenditure for the
support referred to in Article 78(2)(a) to (d) and (f) to (j);

(e)
65 % of the eligible expenditure for the support
referred to in Article 79.

4.           By way
of derogation from paragraph 2, the maximum EMFF contribution rate applicable
to the objectives under a Union priority shall be increased by ten percentage
points, where the whole of the Union priority set out in paragraph 1 of Article
6 is delivered through community-led local development.

Article 95
Intensity of public aid

1.           Member States shall apply
a maximum intensity of public aid of 50% of the total eligible expenditure of
the operation.

2.           By way of derogation from
paragraph 1, Member States shall apply an intensity of public aid of 100% of
the eligible public expenditure of the operation where:

(a)
the beneficiary is a public law body;

(b)
the operation is related to the storage aid
referred to in Article 70;

(c)
the operation is related to the compensation
regime referred to in Article 73;

(d)
the operation is related to the data collection
referred to in Article 79.

3.           By way of derogation from
paragraph 1, Member States may apply an intensity of public aid between 50% and
maximum100% of the total eligible expenditure when the operation is implemented
under Chapter III of Title V and fulfils one of the following criteria:

(a)
collective interest;

(b)
collective beneficiary;

(c)
public access to the results of the operation;

(d)
innovative features of the project at local
level.

4.           By way of derogation from
paragraph 1, additional percentage points of public aid intensity as set out in
Annex I shall apply.

5.           The minimum intensity of
public aid shall be 20 % of the total eligible expenditure of the operation.

6.           The Commission shall
establish by means of implementing acts adopted in accordance with the
examination procedure referred to in Article 12851(3) how the different percentage points of public aid
intensity shall apply in the case where several conditions of Annex I are
fulfilled.

Section 2
Financial management and use of the euro

Article 96
Pre-financing arrangements

1.           In
addition to the general rules of Article 72 of [Regulation (EU) No [...] laying
down Common Provisions], and following the Commission decision approving the
operational programme, an initial pre-financing amount for the whole
programming period shall be paid by the Commission. This shall represent 4% of
the contribution from the Union budget to the operational programme concerned. It
may be split into two instalments depending on budget availability.

2.           Interest
generated on the pre-financing shall be posted to the operational programme
concerned and deducted from the amount of public expenditure indicated on the
final declaration of expenditure.

Article 97
Accounting year

The accounting year
shall cover expenditure paid and revenue received and entered in the accounts
of the EMFF budget by the paying agency in respect of the year «N» beginning on
16 October of year «N-1» and ending on 15 October of year «N».

Article 98
Interim payments

1.           Interim
payments shall be made for each operational programme. They shall be calculated
by applying the co-financing rate for each Union priority to the certified
public expenditure pertaining to it.

2.           Subject
to resource availability, the Commission shall make intermediate payments in
order to reimburse the expenditure incurred by accredited paying agencies in
implementing the programmes.

3.           Each
interim payment shall be made subject to compliance with the following
requirements:

(a)     transmission to
the Commission of a declaration of expenditure signed by the accredited paying
agency, in accordance with Article 124(1)(c);

(b)     no overrun of the
total EMFF contribution to each Union priority for the entire period covered by
the programme concerned;

(c)     transmission to
the Commission of the last annual progress report on the implementation of the
operational programme.

4.           If one
of the requirements laid down in paragraph 3 is not met, the Commission shall
forthwith inform the accredited paying agency. If one of the requirement laid
down in point (a) or (c) of paragraph 3 is not met, the declaration of
expenditure shall be inadmissible.

5.           The
Commission shall make interim payments within 45 days of registering a
declaration of expenditure for which the requirements set out in paragraph 3
are met, without prejudice to Articles 123 and 127.

6.           Accredited
paying agencies shall establish and forward intermediate declarations of
expenditure relating to operational programmes to the Commission, within the
periods set by the Commission by means of implementing acts adopted in
accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 151(2).

Intermediate declarations
of expenditure in respect of expenditure incurred from 16 October onwards shall
be booked to the budget of the following year.

Article 99
Payment of the balance and closure of the programme

1.           After
receiving the last annual progress report on the implementation of an
operational programme, the Commission shall pay the balance, subject to
resource availability, on the basis of the financial plan in force, the annual
accounts for the last execution year for the relevant operational programme and
of the corresponding clearance decision. Those accounts shall be presented to
the Commission no later than 6 months after the final eligibility date of
expenditure and shall cover the expenditure incurred by the paying agency up to
the last eligibility date of expenditure.

2.           The
balance shall be paid not later than six months after the information and
documents referred to in paragraph 1 are considered receivable by the
Commission and the last annual account has been cleared. The amounts still
committed after the balance is paid shall be decommitted by the Commission
within a period of six months, without prejudice to Article 100.

3.           If by
the time limit set out in paragraph 1 the Commission has not been sent the last
annual progress report and the documents needed for clearance of the accounts
of the last execution year for the programme, the balance shall be decommitted
in accordance with Article 100.

Article 100
Decommitment

The Commission shall
decommit any portion of a budget commitment for an operational programme that
has not been used for the purpose of pre-financing or making interim payments
or for which no declaration of expenditure fulfilling the requirements laid
down in Article 98(3) has been presented to it in relation to expenditure
incurred by 31 December of the second year following that of the budget
commitment.

Article 101
Use of the Euro

1.           The
amounts set out in the operational programme submitted by the Member State,
certified statements of expenditure, applications for payment and expenditure
referred to in the annual and final reports of implementation shall be
denominated in euro.

2.           Member
States which have not adopted the euro as their currency on the date of an
application for payment shall convert into euro the amounts of expenditure
incurred in national currency.

Those amounts shall be
converted in euro using the monthly accounting rate of the Commission in the
month during which the expenditure was registered in the accounts of the paying
agency of the operational programme concerned. This rate shall be published
electronically by the Commission each month.

3.           The
amounts recovered in national currency by Member States which have not adopted
the euro as their currency on the date of the recovery shall be converted into
euro using the exchange rate referred to in paragraph 2.

4.           When
the euro becomes the currency of a Member State, the conversion procedure set
out in the paragraph 3 shall continue to apply to all expenditure recorded in
the accounts by the paying agency before the date of entry into force of the
fixed conversion rate between the national currency and the euro.

Section 23
Eligibility of expenditure and durability

Article 96102
Eligible expenditure

1.           In
addition to the general rules set out in Article 55(1) of [Regulation (EU) No
[...] laying down Common Provisions], payments by beneficiaries shall be
supported by invoices and documents proving payment.

2.           Only
indirect costs under Chapter III of Title V shall be eligible for EMFF
contribution.

3.           By way of derogation from Article 55(7) of [Regulation (EU) No [...]
laying down Common Provisions], expenditure which becomes eligible because of
an amendment of the programme under Article 22(2) of this
regulation shall only be eligible as of 1st January of the year
following the submission of the amendment by the Member State
to the Commission in accordance with Article 24(1).

Article 97103
Calculation of simplified
costs, additional costs or income foregone

Where aid is granted on the basis of simplified costs, additional costs or income foregone,
Member States shall ensure that the relevant calculations are adequate,
accurate and established in advance on the basis of a fair, equitable and
verifiable calculation.

Article 104
Advances

1.           Payment
of advances shall be subject to the establishment of a bank guarantee or an
equivalent guarantee corresponding to 100% of the amount of the advance.

2.           In
case of public beneficiaries, advances shall be paid to municipalities,
regional authorities and associations thereof, and to public law bodies.

3.           A
facility provided as a guarantee by a public authority shall be considered
equivalent to the guarantee referred to in paragraph 1, provided that the
authority undertakes to pay the amount covered by that guarantee, if
entitlement to the advance paid is not established.

4.           The
guarantee may be released when the competent paying agency establishes that the
amount of actual expenditure corresponding to the public contribution related
to the operation exceeds the amount of the advance.

Article 98105
Durability of the criteria
for admissibility of the operation

1.           The beneficiary shall
continue to comply with the admissibility conditions referred to in Article
12(1), after submitting the application and during the whole period of
implementation of the operation and, for certain types of operation, also for
an identified period of time after the last payment.

2.           The Commission shall be
empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 12750 concerning the
identification:

(a)
of types of operation for which the
admissibility conditions should be complied with after the last payment and

(b)
of the period of time referred to in paragraph
1.

The Commission shall exercise the empowerment
in full respect of the principle of proportionality and taking into account the
risk that the non-compliance with the respective CFP rules constitutes a
serious threats to the sustainable exploitation of living marine biological
resources that restores and maintains populations of harvested species above
levels which can produce the MSY, the sustainability of the stocks concerned or
the conservation of the marine environment.

CHAPTER III
Management and control systems

Article 106
Responsibilities of Member States

Member States shall
ensure that a management and control system has been set up for the operational
programme ensuring a clear allocation and separation of functions between the
managing authority, the paying agency and the certification body. Member States
shall be responsible for ensuring that the system functions effectively
throughout the programme period.

Article 107
Competent authorities

1.           Member
States shall designate, for the operational programme, the following
authorities:

(a)
the managing
authority, which may be either a public or private law body acting at national
or regional level, or the Member State itself when it carries out that task, to
be in charge of the management of the programme concerned;

(b)
the accredited paying
agency within the meaning of Article 109;

(c)
the certification
body within the meaning of Article 112.

2.           Member
States shall clearly define the tasks of the managing authority, the paying
agency and, under sustainable local development, the local action groups
referred to in Article 62 with regard to the application of eligibility and
selection criteria and the project selection procedure.

Article 99108
Managing authority

1.           In
addition to the general rules set out in Article 114 of [Regulation (EU) No […]
laying down Common Provisions] the managing authority shall be responsible for managing and implementing the programme in an
efficient, effective and correct way, and in particular for:

(a)     ensuring that there is an appropriate secure
electronic system to record, maintain, manage and report statistical
information on the programme and its implementation required for the purposes
of monitoring and evaluation and, in particular, information required to
monitor progress towards the defined objectives and Union priorities;

(ab)   providinge the Commission, on a quarterly biannual basis,
with relevant data on operations selected for funding, including key
characteristics of the beneficiary and the operation itself;. The Commission shall lay down, by means of
implementing act, rules for the presentation of these data in accordance with
the advisory procedure reffered to in Article 12851(2).

(c)     ensuring that
beneficiaries and other bodies involved in the implementation of the
operations:

(i)      are informed of
their obligations resulting from the aid granted, and maintain either a
separate accounting system or an adequate accounting code for all transactions
relating to the operation;

(ii)      are aware of the
requirements concerning the provision of data to the managing authority and the
recording of outputs and results;

(d)     ensuring that the
ex ante evaluation referred to in Article 48 of [Regulation (EU) No [...]
laying down Common Provisions] conforms to the evaluation and monitoring system
referred to in Article 131 and accepting and submitting this evaluation to the
Commission;

(e)     ensuring that the
evaluation plan referred to in Article 49 of [Regulation (EU) No [...] laying
down Common Provisions] is in place, that the ex post evaluation referred to in
Article 140 is conducted within the time limits laid down in the aforementioned
Article, ensuring that such evaluations are in conformity with the monitoring
and evaluation system referred to in Article 131 and submitting them to the
Monitoring Committee referred to in Article 136 and the Commission;

(f)      providing the
monitoring committee referred to in Article 136 with the information and
documents needed to monitor the implementation of the programme in the light of
its specific objectives and priorities;

(g)     drawing up the
annual implementation report referred to in Article 138 including aggregate
monitoring tables, and, after approval by the monitoring committee referred to
in Article 136, submitting this report to the Commission;

(h)     ensuring that the
paying agency receives all necessary information, in particular on the
procedures operated and any controls carried out in relation to operations
selected for funding, before payments are authorised;

(bi)    ensuringe publicity for the programme by
informing potential beneficiaries, professional organisations, the economic and
social partners, bodies involved in promoting equality between men and women,
and the non-governmental organisations concerned, including environmental
organisations, of the possibilities offered by the programme and the rules for
gaining access to programme funding;

(cj)    as well asensure publicity for the programme
by informing beneficiaries of the Union contribution and the general public on
the role played by the Union in the programme.

2.           The
Member State or the managing authority may designate one or more intermediate
bodies including regional or local authorities, or non-governmental organisations,
to carry out the management or implementation of operations under the
operational programme.

2.           The
Commission shall lay down, by means of implementing act, rules for the
presentation of these data in accordance with the advisory procedure referred
to in Article 128(2).

3.           When a
part of its tasks is delegated to another body, the managing authority shall
retain full responsibility for the efficiency and correctness of management and
implementation of those tasks. The managing authority shall ensure that
appropriate provisions are in place to allow the other body to obtain all
necessary data and information for execution of those tasks.

Article 109
Accreditation and withdrawal of accreditation of paying agency

1.           The
paying agency shall be a dedicated department or body of the Member States
responsible for the management and control of expenditure. With the exception
of payment, the execution of those tasks may be delegated.

2.           Member
States shall accredit as paying agencies departments or bodies which fulfil the
accreditation criteria to be laid down by the Commission pursuant to Article
111(2).

3.           The
person in charge of the accredited paying agency shall draw up the information
listed in Article 75(1)(a), (b) and (c) of the [Regulation (EU) No [...] laying
down Common Provisions].

4.           Where
an accredited paying agency does not meet or no longer meets one or more of the
accreditation criteria referred to in paragraph 2, the Member State shall
withdraw its accreditation unless the paying agency makes the necessary changes
within a period to be determined according to the severity of the problem.

5.           The
paying agencies shall manage and ensure control of the operations linked to
public intervention for which they are responsible and they shall retain
overall responsibility in that field.

Article 110
Payment in full to beneficiaries

Save explicitly
provided otherwise in the Union legislation, payments relating to the financing
provided for in this Regulation shall be disbursed in full to the beneficiaries.

Article 111
Commission powers

To ensure the sound
operation of the system established in Article 106, the Commission shall be
empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 150 concerning:

(a)          minimum
conditions for the accreditation of paying agencies with regard to the internal
environment, control activities, information and communication, and monitoring,
as well as rules on the procedure for issuing and withdrawing accreditation;

(b)          rules
relating to supervision and the procedure for reviewing accreditation of paying
agencies;

(c)          the
obligations of the paying agencies as regards the content of their management
and control responsibilities.

Article 112
Certification bodies

1.           The
certification body shall be a public or private audit body designated by the
Member State which shall provide an opinion on the management declaration of
assurance covering the completeness, accuracy and veracity of the annual
accounts of the paying agency, the proper functioning of its internal control
system, the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions, as well as
the respect of the principle of sound financial management. It shall be
operationally independent from the paying agency concerned, the managing
authority and the authority which has accredited that paying agency.

2.           The
Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with
Article 150 laying down detailed rules on status of the certification bodies,
the specific tasks, including the controls, which they have to carry out as
well as the certificates and the reports, together with the documents
accompanying them, to be drawn up by those bodies.

Article 113
Admissibility of payments made by the paying agencies

The expenditure under
shared management referred to Title V and under technical assistance referred
to in Article 92 may be covered by Union financing only if it has been effected
by accredited paying agencies.

CHAPTER IV
Control by Member States

Article 114
Responsibilities of the Member States

1.           Member
States shall adopt, within the framework of the EMFF, all legislative,
regulatory and administrative provisions and take any other measures necessary
to ensure effective protection of the financial interests of the Union, and in
particular:

(a)
check the legality
and regularity of operations financed including that the co-financed products
and services have been delivered and that expenditure declared by the
beneficiaries has been paid by them and that it complies with applicable Union
and national law, the operational programme and the conditions for support of
the operation;

(b)
ensure that
beneficiaries involved in the implementation of operations reimbursed on the
basis of eligible costs actually incurred maintain either a separate accounting
system or an adequate accounting code for all transactions relating to an
operation;

(c)
set up procedures to
ensure that all documents regarding expenditure and audits required to ensure
an adequate audit trail are held in accordance with the requirements of Article
62(g) of [Regulation (EU) No [...] laying down Common Provisions];

(d)
offer effective
prevention against fraud, especially as regards the areas with a higher level
of risk, and which shall act as a deterrent, having regard to the costs and
benefits and to the proportionality of the measures;

(e)
prevent, detect and
correct irregularities and fraud;

(f)
apply the required
financial corrections which are effective, dissuasive and proportionate in
accordance with Union legislation or national law;

(g)
recover undue
payments plus interest and if necessary launch legal proceedings.

2.           Member
States shall set up efficient management and control systems in order to ensure
compliance with this Regulation.

3.           In
order to satisfy the obligations referred to in paragraph (1)(a) and (b), the
systems set up by Member States shall include:

(a)
administrative checks
in respect of each application for reimbursement by beneficiaries;

(b)
on-the-spot controls
of operations.

As regards the on-the-spot
controls, the authority responsible shall draw its control sample from the
entire population of applicants comprising, where appropriate, a random part
and a risk-based part in order to obtain a representative error rate, while
targeting also highest errors.

4.           On-the-spot
verifications of individual operations pursuant to paragraph (3)(b) may be
carried out on a sample basis.

5.           Where
the managing authority is also a beneficiary under the operational programme,
arrangements for the verifications referred to in paragraph 1(a) shall ensure
adequate separation of functions.

6.           Member
States shall inform the Commission of the provisions adopted and measures taken
under paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 5. Any conditions which the Member States
establish to supplement the conditions laid down in this Regulation shall be
verifiable.

7.           The Commission
may, by means of implementing acts, adopt rules aiming at reaching a uniform
application of paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 4. Those implementing acts shall be
adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article
151(3).

8.           The
Commission shall adopt delegated acts, in accordance with Article 150, laying
down rules concerning arrangements for the audit trail referred to in paragraph
1(c).

Article 115
Recovery of undue payments

1.           In the
case of paragraph (1)(g) of Article 114, Member States shall recover amounts
unduly paid, together with any interest on late payments. They shall notify
those cases to the Commission and shall keep the Commission informed of the
progress of the related administrative and legal proceedings.

2.           The
Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with
Article 150 laying down detailed rules concerning the obligations of the Member
States specified in paragraph 1.

Article 116
Irregularities

1.           For
any undue payment following the occurrence of irregularity or other cases of
non-compliance, Member States shall request recovery from the beneficiary
within one year of the first indication that such an irregularity has taken
place and shall record the corresponding amounts in the debtors' ledger of the
paying agency.

2.           If
recovery has not taken place within four years of the date of the recovery
request, or within eight years where recovery is taken in the national courts,
the financial consequences of non-recovery shall be borne by the Member State
concerned, without prejudice to the requirement that the Member State concerned
must pursue recovery procedures in compliance with Article 115.

Where, in the context of
the recovery procedure, the absence of any irregularity is recorded by an
administrative or legal instrument of a definitive nature, the Member State
concerned shall declare as expenditure to this fund the financial burden borne
by it under the first subparagraph.

3.           On
duly justified grounds, Member States may decide not to pursue recovery. A
decision to this effect may be taken only in the following cases:

(a)
if the costs of
recovery incurred or likely to be incurred sum up to a total amount exceeding
the amount to be recovered, or

(b)
if recovery proves
impossible owing to the insolvency, recorded and recognised under national law,
of the debtor or the persons legally responsible for the irregularity.

Where the decision referred
to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph is taken before the outstanding
amount has been subject to the rules referred to in paragraph 2, the financial
consequence of non-recovery is borne by the Union budget.

4.           Member
States shall enter in the annual accounts to be sent to the Commission under
Article 125(c)(iii) the amounts to be borne by them under paragraph 2. The
Commission shall verify and, if needed, decide to modify the annual accounts by
means of implementing act.

5.           The
Commission may, by means of implementing acts, decide to exclude from Union
financing sums charged to the Union budget in the following cases:

(a)
if the Member State
has not respected the time limits referred to in paragraph 1;

(b)
if it considers that
the decision not to pursue recovery taken by a Member State pursuant to
paragraph 3 is not justified;

(c)
if it considers that
the irregularity or lack of recovery is the outcome of irregularity or
negligence attributable to the administrative authorities or any other official
body of the Member State.

6.           Before
adopting any decision by means of implementing acts mentioned in this Article,
the procedure laid down in Article 129(6) shall apply.

Article 10017
Financial corrections by
Member States

1.           The
Member State shall in the first instance bear the responsibility for
investigating irregularities or other cases of non compliance, making the
financial corrections required and for pursuing recoveries. In the case of a
systemic irregularity, the Member State shall extend its investigation to cover
all operations potentially affected.

2.           The
Member State shall make the financial corrections required in connection with
individual or systemic irregularities or other cases of non compliance detected
in operations or the operational programme. The corrections made by the Member
State shall consist of cancelling all or part of the public contribution to an
operation or the operational programme. The Member State shall take into
account the nature and gravity of the irregularities and the financial loss to
the EMFF and shall apply a proportionate correction. Financial corrections
shall be recorded in the annual accounts by the paying agency for the
accounting year in which the cancellation is decided.

3.           In
addition to Article 135 of [Regulation (EU) No [...] laying down Common
Provisions], the Member States shall in the first instance be responsible also
for investigating the cases of non-compliance with rules applicable under the
Common Fisheries Policy.

4.           Ffor the cases of financial corrections applied on
expenditure directly linked to the non-compliance with Article 98105, the Member States shall
decide the amount of a correction taking into account the gravity of the non
compliance by the beneficiary with CFP rules, the economic advantage derived
from the non-compliance with CFP rules or the importance of the EMFF
contribution to the economic activity of the beneficiary.

4.           The
contribution from the EMFF cancelled in accordance with paragraph 1 may be
re-used within the operational programme, subject to paragraph 5.

5.           The
contribution cancelled in accordance with paragraph 2 may not be re-used for
the operation or operations that were the subject of the correction, or, where
a financial correction is made for a systemic irregularity or other cases of
non compliance, for any operations within affected by the systematic
irregularity or other cases of non compliance.

CHAPTER V
Control by the Commission

Section 1
Interruption and suspension

Article 10118
Interruption of the
payment deadline

In addition to the elements allowing for
interruption listed in Article 74(1)(a) to (c) of [Regulation (EU) No [...]
laying down Common Provisions], the authorising officer by delegation within
the meaning of the [Financial Regulation] may interrupt the payment deadline
for an interim payment claim for a maximum period of nine
months if the Commission has adopted a decision by means of implementing
act recognising that there is evidence to suggest that there is a case of non
compliance by a Member State with obligations under the Common Fisheries Policy
which shall be liable to affect the expenditure contained in a certified statement
of expenditure for which the interim payment is requested;.

Article 10219
Suspension of payments

1.           In
addition to Article 134 of [Regulation (EU) No [...] laying down Common
Provisions], the Commission may suspend, by means of an implementing
act, all or part of the interim payments of the operational programme where :

(a)
there is a serious
deficiency in the management and control system of the operational programme
for which corrective measures have not been taken;

(b)
expenditure in a
certified statement of expenditure is linked to a serious irregularity or other
case of non compliance which has not been corrected;

(c)
the Member State has
failed to take the necessary action to remedy the situation giving rise to an
interruption under Article 118;

(d)
there is a serious
deficiency in the quality and reliability of the monitoring system;

(e)     the Commission has adopted a decision by means of an implementing
act recognising that a Member State has failed to comply with its obligations
under the Common Fisheries Policy. Such non compliance shall be liable to
affect the expenditure contained in a certified statement of expenditure for
which the interim payment is requested;.

(e)
the conditions
referred to in Articles 17(5) and 20(3) of the Regulation [on Common
Provisions] are fulfilled.

2.           The
Commission may decide, by means of implementing act, to suspend all or part of
interim payments after having given the Member State the opportunity to present
its observations within a period of two months. The Commission may lay
down, by means of implementing acts adopted in accordance with the examination
procedure referred to in Article 12851(3), detailed rules on the part of
the payments which may be suspended. These amounts of those payments shall be proportionate to the nature and importance
of the deficiency, irregularity or non-compliance by
the Member State.

3.           The
Commission shall decide by means of implementing act to end the suspension of
all or part of interim payments where the Member State has taken the necessary
measures to enable the suspension to be lifted. Where such measures are not
taken by the Member State, the Commission may adopt by means of implementing
act a decision to apply financial corrections by cancelling all or part of the
Union contribution to the operational programme in accordance with Article 128
and in accordance with the procedure described in Article129.

Article 10320
Commission powers

1.           The Commission shall be
empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 12750 defining the cases of non
compliance referred to in Article 10118 and 10219(1)(e), including listing the relevant the
provisions of the CFP which are essential to the conservation of marine
biological resources. Interruption or suspension resulting
from these cases shall be proportionate to the nature, extent, duration and
repetition of the non-compliance.

2.           The Commission may lay
down, by means of implementing acts, detailed rules on the interruption and
suspension procedure. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance
with the examination procedure referred to in Article 12851(3).

Section 2
Clearance of accountsInformation exchange and financial corrections

Article 121
On-the-spot controls by the Commission

1.           Without
prejudice to the controls carried out by Member States under national laws,
regulations and administrative provisions or Article 287 of the Treaty, and any
check organised under Article 322 of the Treaty, the Commission may organise
on-the-spot controls in Member States with a view to verifying in particular:

(a)     compliance of
administrative practices with Union rules;

(b)     the existence of
the requisite supporting documents and their correlation with the operations
financed by the EMFF;

(c)     the terms on which
the operations financed by the EMFF have been undertaken and controlled.

2.           Persons
delegated by the Commission to carry out on-the-spot controls or Commission
agents acting within the scope of the powers conferred upon them shall have
access to the books and all other documents, including documents and metadata
drawn up or received and recorded on an electronic medium, relating to
expenditure financed by the EMFF.

3.           The
powers to carry out on-the-spot controls shall not affect the application of
national provisions which reserve certain acts for agents specifically
designated by national legislation. Persons delegated by the Commission shall
not take part, inter alia, in home visits or the formal questioning of persons
on the basis of legislation of the Member State concerned. However, they shall
have access to information thus obtained.

4.           The
Commission shall give sufficient prior notice of an on-the-spot control to the
Member State concerned or the Member State within whose territory the control
is to take place. Agents from the Member State concerned may take part in such
controls.

5.           At the
request of the Commission and with the agreement of the Member State concerned,
additional controls or inquiries into the operations covered by this Regulation
shall be undertaken by the competent bodies of that Member State. Commission
agents or persons delegated by the Commission may take part in such controls.

6.           In
order to improve controls, the Commission may, with the agreement of the Member
States concerned, request the assistance of the authorities of those Member
States for certain controls or inquiries.

7.           The
Commission may, by means of implementing acts, adopted in accordance with the
advisory procedure referred to in Article 151(2), lay down rules regarding the
procedures to comply with when additional controls referred to in paragraphs 5
and 6 are carried out.

Article 10422
Access to information

1.           Member
States shall make available to the Commission all information necessary for the
smooth operation of the EMFF and shall take all appropriate measures to
facilitate the controls which the Commission deems appropriate in connection
with the management of Union financing, including on-the-spot controls.

2.         On request by the Commission Member
States shall communicate to the Commission their laws, regulations and
administrative provisions which they have adopted for implementing the Union acts relating to the Common Fisheries Policy, where those
acts have a financial impact on the EMFF.

3.           Member
States shall make available to the Commission all information about
irregularities and suspected fraud cases detected, and about the steps taken to
recover undue payments in connection with those irregularities and frauds
pursuant to Article 116.

Article 123
Access to documents

The accredited paying
agencies shall keep supporting documents relating to payments made and
documents relating to the performance of the administrative and physical checks
required by Union legislation, and shall make the documents and information
available to the Commission.

Where those documents
are kept by an authority acting under delegation from a paying agency and
responsible for authorising expenditure, that authority shall send reports to
the accredited paying agency on the number of checks made, their content and
the measures taken in the light of their results.

Article 124
Clearance of accounts

1.           Prior
to 30 April of the year following the budget year in question and on the basis
of the information transmitted in accordance with Article 125(c), the
Commission shall, by means of implementing acts, decide on the clearance of the
accounts of the accredited paying agencies.

2.           The
clearance decision referred to in paragraph 1 shall cover the completeness,
accuracy and veracity of the annual accounts submitted. The decision shall be
adopted without prejudice to decisions adopted subsequently pursuant to Article
128.

Article 125
Communication of information

Member States shall
send to the Commission the following information, declarations and documents:

(a)
for accredited paying
agency:

(i)      its accreditation
document;

(ii)     its function;

(iii)     where relevant,
the withdrawal of its accreditation,

(b)
for certification
body:

(i)      its name;

(ii)     its address
detail,

(c)
for measures relating
to operations financed:

(i)      declarations of
expenditure, which also act as payment requests, signed by the accredited
paying agency and accompanied by the requisite information;

(ii)     an update of
estimated declarations of expenditure which will be submitted during the year
and estimated declarations of expenditure in respect of the following financial
year;

(iii)     the management
declaration of assurance and the annual accounts of the accredited paying
agencies;

(iv)    a summary of the
results of all available audits and checks carried out.

Article 10526
Confidentiality

Member States and the Commission shall take
all necessary steps to ensure the confidentiality of the information
communicated or obtained during on the spot controls or in the context of
clearance of accounts implemented under this Regulation.

The principles mentioned in Article 8 of
Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 of 11 November 1996 concerning
on-the-spot controls and inspections carried out by the Commission in order to
protect the European Communities' financial interests against fraud and other
irregularities[35]
shall apply to that information.

Article 127
Commission powers

The Commission may, by
means of implementing acts, adopt rules pertaining to:

(a)
the form, content,
intervals, deadlines and arrangements for transmitting or making available to
the Commission:

(i)      declarations of
expenditure and estimates of expenditure and their updates, including assigned
revenue;

(ii)     management declaration of assurance and annual accounts of the paying agencies, as well as the results
of all available audits and controls carried out;

(iii)     the account
certification reports;

(iv)    the names and
particulars of accredited paying agencies and certification bodies;

(v)     arrangements for
taking account of and paying expenditure financed by the EMFF;

(vi)    notifications of
financial adjustments made by Member States in connection with operations or
operational programme, and summary reports on the recovery procedures
undertaken by the Member States in response to irregularities;

(vii)    information on
the measures taken to protect the financial interests of the Commission.

(b)
the arrangements
governing exchanges of information and documents between the Commission and the
Member States, and the implementation of information systems, including the
type, format and content of data to be processed by those systems and the
corresponding data storage rules;

(c)
the notification to
the Commission by Member States of information, documents, statistics and
reports, as well as the deadlines and methods for their notification.

(d)
the cooperation obligations
to be complied with by the Member States for the implementation of Articles 121
and 122;

Those implementing acts
shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in
Article 151(3).

Article 10628
Financial correction
by the Commission and criteria for financial corrections

1.           In addition to the cases
identified in Articles 20(4) and,
77 and 136(1)of the
Regulation [on Common Provisions], the Commission shall, by means of
implementing acts, make financial corrections by cancelling all or part of the
Union contribution to an operational programme where, after carrying out the
necessary examination, it concludes that:

(a)     there is a serious
deficiency in the management and control system of the programme which has put
at risk the Union contribution already paid to the operational programme;

(b)     expenditure contained in a certified statement of expenditure is irregular or affected by otherthe cases of non compliance with CFP rules by beneficiary, and has not been corrected by
the Member State prior to the opening of the correction procedure under this
paragraph. Financial correction resulting from these cases shall
be proportionate to the nature, extent, duration and repetition of the
non-compliance;

(c)     a Member State has
not complied with its obligations under Article 117 prior to the opening of the
correction procedure under this paragraph.

(b)(d) expenditure
contained in a certified statement of expenditure is affected by cases of non
compliance with CFP rules by the Member State which are essential to the
conservation of marine biological resources.

2.           For
the cases under paragraph 1(a), (b) and (c), the Commission shall base its
financial corrections on individual cases of irregularity or other individual
cases of non compliance that have been identified and shall take account of
whether an irregularity or a case of non compliance is systemic. When it is not
possible to quantify precisely the amount of irregular expenditure charged to
the EMFF, the Commission shall apply a flat rate or extrapolated financial
correction.

23.         For
the cases under paragraph 1(ab)
in case ofrelating to non
compliance with Article 98105,
and under paragraph 1(bd), the Commission shall base its financial corrections
only on the expenditure directly linked to the non-compliance with CFP rules.
The Commission shall decide the amount of a correction taking into account the
gravity of the non compliance with CFP rules by the
Member State or the beneficiary with CFP rules, the
economic advantage derived from the non-compliance with CFP rules or the
importance of the EMFF contribution to the economic activity of the
beneficiary.

34.         When
it is not possible to quantify precisely the amount of expenditure linked to
non-compliance with CFP rules by the Member State, the
Commission shall apply a flat rate or extrapolated financial correction
according to paragraph 46 (a).

5.           Where
the Commission bases its position on the facts established by auditors other
than those of its own services, it shall draw its own conclusions regarding
their financial consequences, after examining the measures taken by the Member
State concerned under Article 117, the notification submitted under Article
125(c) and any replies from the Member State.

46.         The
Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with
Article 12750 which shall:

(a)
establish the criteria to set the level of
financial correction to be applied in case of flat rate or extrapolated
financial corrections.

(b)
list the relevant CFP rules referred to in
paragraph (1)(bd) which are
essential to the conservation of marine biological resources.

Article 10729
Procedure

1.           Before
taking a decision on a financial correction by means of implementing acts, the
Commission shall open the procedure by informing the Member State of its
provisional conclusions and requesting the Member State to submit its comments
within two months.

2.           In addition to paragraph 2 of Article 137 of
[Regulation (EU) No [...] laying down Common Provisions], where the Commission proposes a financial correction referred to in Article 106(2) on the
basis of extrapolation or at a flat rate, the Member State shall be
given the opportunity to demonstrate, through an examination of the
documentation concerned, that the actual extent of irregularity
or other the case of non compliance, including non compliance with CFP rules, and its link to the expenditure was less than the
Commission's assessment. In agreement with the Commission,
the Member State may limit the scope of this examination to an appropriate proportion
or sample of the documentation concerned. Except in duly justified cases, the
time allowed for this examination shall not exceed a further period of two
months after the two-month period referred to in paragraph 1.

3.           The
Commission shall take account of any evidence supplied by the Member State
within the time limits referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2.

4.           Where
the Member State does not accept the provisional conclusions of the Commission,
the Member State shall be invited to a hearing by the Commission, in order to
ensure that all relevant information and observations are available as a basis
for conclusions by the Commission on the application of the financial
correction.

5.           In
order to apply financial corrections the Commission shall take a decision, by
means of implementing acts, within six months of the date of the hearing, or of
the date of receipt of additional information where the Member State agrees to
submit such additional information following the hearing. The Commission shall
take account of all information and observations submitted during the course of
the procedure. If no hearing takes place, the six month period shall begin to
run two months after the date of the letter of invitation to the hearing sent
by the Commission.

6.           Where irregularities
affecting annual accounts sent to the Commission are detected by the Commission
or by the Court of Auditors, the resulting financial correction shall reduce
support from the EMFF to the operational programme.

Article 130
Obligations of Member States

A financial correction
by the Commission shall not prejudice the Member State's obligation to pursue
recoveries under Article 117(2) and to recover State aid in the meaning of
Article 107(1) of the Treaty and under Article 14 of Council Regulation
(EC) No 659/1999.

CHAPTER VI
Monitoring, evaluation, information and communication

Section 1
ESTABLISHMENT AND OBJECTIVES OF A MONITORING AND EVALUATION SYSTEM

Article 10831
Monitoring and evaluation
system

1.           A common monitoring and
evaluation system for EMFF operations under shared management shall be
established with a view to measuring the performance of the EMFF. In order to
ensure an effective performance measurement the Commission shall be empowered
to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 12750 regarding the content and construction of that
framework.

2.           The impact of the EMFF
shall be measured in relation to the Union priorities referred to in Article 6.

The Commission shall define, by means of
implementing acts, the set of indicators specific to these Union priorities.
Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination
procedure referred to in Article 12851(3).

3.           Member States shall
provide the Commission with all the information necessary to permit the
monitoring and evaluation of the measures concerned. The Commission shall take
into account the data needs and synergies between potential data sources, in
particular their use for statistical purposes when appropriate. The Commission
shall adopt, by means of implementing acts, rules on the information to be sent
by the Member States, as well as on the data needs and synergies between
potential data sources. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance
with the examination procedure referred to in Article 12851(3).

4.           The Commission shall
present a report on the implementation of this Article to the European
Parliament and the Council every four years. The first report shall be
presented not later than 31 December 2017.

Article 10932
Objectives

The objectives of the monitoring and
evaluation system shall be:

(a)
to demonstrate the progress and achievements of
maritime and fisheries policy and assess the impact, effectiveness, efficiency
and relevance of EMFF operations;

(b)
to contribute to better targeted support for
maritime and fisheries policy;

(c)
to support a common learning process related to
monitoring and evaluation;

(d)
to provide robust, evidenced based evaluations
of the EMFF operations that feed into the decision making process.

Section 2
TECHNICAL PROVISIONS

Article 11033
Common indicators

1.           A list of common
indicators relating to the initial situation as well as to the financial
execution, outputs, results and impact of the programme and applicable to each
programme shall be specified in the monitoring and evaluation system provided
for in Article 10831 to
allow for aggregation of data at Union level.

2.           The common indicators
shall be linked to the milestones and targets established in the operational
programmes according to the Union priorities identified in Article 6. These
common indicators shall be used for the performance framework referred to in
Article 19(1) of [Regulation (EU) No [...] laying down Common Provisions], and
shall allow assessment of the progress, efficiency and effectiveness of policy
implementation against objectives and targets at Union, national and programme
level.

Article 11134
Electronic Information
System

1.           Key information on the
implementation of the programme, on each operation selected for funding, as
well as on completed operations, needed for monitoring and evaluation,
including the key characteristics of the beneficiary and the project, shall be
recorded and maintained electronically.

2.           The Commission shall
ensure that there is an appropriate secure electronic system to record,
maintain and manage key information and report on monitoring and evaluation.

Article 11235
Provision of information

Beneficiaries of support under EMFF,
including local action groups, shall undertake to provide to the managing
authority and/or to appointed evaluators or other bodies delegated to perform
functions on its behalf, all the data and information necessary to permit
monitoring and evaluation of the programme, in particular in relation to
meeting specific objectives and priorities.

Section 3
Monitoring

Article 11336
Monitoring procedures

1.           The managing authority
referred to in Article 99108
and the monitoring committee provided for in Article 41 of [Regulation (EU) No
[...] laying down Common Provisions] shall monitor the quality of programme
implementation.

2.           The managing authority and
the monitoring committee shall carry out monitoring of the operational
programme by means of financial, output and target indicators.

Article 11437
Responsibilities of the
monitoring committee

In addition to the responsibilities provided
for in Article 43 of [Regulation (EU) No [...] laying down Common Provisions],
the monitoring committee shall verify the performance of the operational
programme and the effectiveness of its implementation. To that end, the
monitoring committee:

(a)
shall be consulted and issue an opinion, within
four months of the decision approving the programme, on the selection criteria
for the financed operations; the selection criteria shall be revised according
to programming needs;

(b)
shall examine the activities and outputs related
to the evaluation plan of the programme;

(c)
shall examine actions in the programme relating
to the fulfilment of ex ante conditionalities;

(d)
shall consider and approve the annual
implementation reports before they are sent to the Commission;

(e)
shall examine actions to promote equality
between men and women, equal opportunities, and non-discrimination, including
accessibility for disabled persons;

(f)
shall not be consulted on Annual Work Plan for
data collections referred to in Article 23.

Article 11538
Annual implementation
report

1.           By 31 May 2016 and by 31
May each subsequent year until and including 2023, the Member State shall
submit to the Commission an annual implementation report on implementation of
the operational programme in the previous calendar year. The report submitted
in 2016 shall cover the calendar years 2014 and 2015.

2.           In addition to what is
provided in Article 44 of [Regulation (EU) No [...] laying down Common
Provisions] annual implementation reports shall include:

(a)
information on financial commitments and
expenditure by measure;

(b)
a summary of the activities undertaken in
relation to the evaluation plan;

(c)
information on the non respect of the durability
conditions set in Article 98105
and of the remedial actions undertaken by the Member States including if
necessary financial corrections in accordance with Article 117135(2) of [Regulation (EU) No [...] laying
down Common Provisions].

3.           In addition to what is
provided in Article 44 of [Regulation (EU) No [...] laying down Common
Provisions], the annual implementation reports submitted in 2017 and 2019 shall
also cover an assessment of progress made in ensuring an integrated approach to
use of the EMFF and other EU financial instruments to support territorial
development, including through local development strategies, and include the
findings relating to the meeting of the targets for each priority included in
the operational programme.

4.           The Commission shall, by
means of implementing acts, adopt rules concerning the format and presentation
of the annual implementation reports. Those implementing acts shall be adopted
in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 12851(3).

Section 4
Evaluation

Article 11639
General provisions

1.           The Commission shall, by
means of implementing acts, provide for the elements to be contained in the ex
ante and ex post evaluation reports referred to in Articles 48 and 50 of
[Regulation (EU) No [...] laying down Common Provisions] and establish the
minimum requirements for the evaluation plan referred to in Article 49 of
[Regulation (EU) No [...] laying down Common Provisions]. Those implementing
acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to
in Article 12851(3).

2.           Member States shall ensure
that the evaluations conform to the common evaluation system agreed in
accordance with Article 10831,
shall organise the production and gathering of the requisite data, and shall
supply the various pieces of information provided by the monitoring system to
the evaluators.

3.           The evaluation reports
shall be made available by the Member States on the internet and by the
Commission on the Union website.

Article 11740
Ex ante evaluation

Member States shall ensure that the ex ante
evaluator is engaged from an early stage in the process of development of the
EMFF programme, including the development of the analysis referred to in
Article 20(1)b), the design of the programme’s intervention logic and the
establishment of the programme’s targets.

Article 11841
Ex post evaluation

In line with Article 50 of the [Regulation
(EU) No [...] laying down Common Provisions] an ex post evaluation report shall
be prepared by the Member States for the operational programme. This report
shall be submitted to the Commission by 31 December 2023 at the latest.

Article 11942
Syntheses of evaluations

Syntheses at Union level of the ex ante and
ex post evaluation reports shall be undertaken under the responsibility
of the Commission. The syntheses of the evaluation reports shall be completed
at the latest by 31 December of the year following the submission of the
relevant evaluations.

Section 5
Information and communication

Article 12043
Information and publicity

1.           The
paying agency, in collaboration with the managing authority, shall be responsible in accordance with Artlice 99108(1)(i)b) for:

(a)
ensuring the establishment of a single website
or a single website portal providing information on, and access to, the
operational programme in each Member State;

(b)
informing potential beneficiaries about funding
opportunities under the operational programme;

(c)
publicising to Union citizens the role and
achievements of the EMFF through information and communication actions on the
results and impact of Partnership Contracts, operational programmes and
operations.

2.           Member States shall in
order to ensure transparency in the support from the EMFF maintain a list of
operations in CSV or XML format which shall be accessible through the single
website or the single website portal providing a list and summary of the
operational programme.

The list of operations shall be updated at
least every three months.

The minimum information to be set out in the
list of operations, including specific information concerning operations under
Articles 28, 37, 45, 54 and 56, is laid down in Annex IV.

3.           Detailed rules concerning
the information and publicity measures for the public and information measures
for applicants and for beneficiaries are laid down in Annex IV.

4.           Technical characteristics
of information and publicity measures for the operation and instructions for
creating the emblem and a definition of the standard colours shall be adopted
by the Commission by means of implementing acts in accordance with the advirosy
procedure referred to Article 12851(2).

TITLE VIII
IMPLEMENTATION UNDER DIRECT MANAGEMENT

CHAPTER I
General provisions

Article 12144
Scope

This Title shall apply to measures financed
under direct management as set out in Title VI

CHAPTER II
Control

Article 12245
Protection of Union
financial interests

1.           The Commission shall take
appropriate measures ensuring that, when operations financed under this
Regulation are implemented, the financial interests of the Union are protected
by the application of preventive measures against fraud, corruption and any other
illegal activities, by effective checks and, if irregularities are detected, by
the recovery of the amounts wrongly paid and, where appropriate, by effective
proportional and deterrent penalties.

2.           The Commission or its
representatives and the Court of Auditors shall have the power of audit on the
basis of documents and on-the-spot checks, over all beneficiaries, contractors
and sub-contractors who have received Union funds.

The European Anti-fraud Office (OLAF) may carry
out on-the-spot checks and inspections on economic operators concerned directly
or indirectly by such funding in accordance with the procedures laid down in
Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 with a view to establishing whether there
has been fraud, corruption or any illegal activity affecting the financial
interests of the European Union in connection with a grant agreement or
decision or a contract or concerning Union funding.

Without prejudice to the previous
subparagraphs, cooperation agreements with third countries and international
organisations, grant agreements, decisions and contracts resulting from the
implementation of this Regulation shall expressly empower the Commission, the
Court of Auditors and OLAF to conduct such audits, on-the-spot checks and
inspections.

Article 12346
Audits

1.           Officials of the
Commission and of the Court of Auditors, or their representatives, may carry
out on-the-spot audits on operations financed by this Regulation at any time
with a minimum of ten working days’ notice, except in urgent cases, for a
period up to three years after the final payment made by the Commission.

2.           Officials of the
Commission and of the Court of Auditors, or their representatives, duly
empowered to carry out on-the-spot audits, shall have access to the books and
all other documents, including documents and metadata drawn-up or received and
recorded on an electronic format relating to expenditure financed by this
Regulation.

3.           The powers of audit
referred to in paragraph 2 shall not affect the application of national provisions
which reserve certain acts for agents specifically designated by national
legislation. Officials of the Commission and of the Court of Auditors, or their
representatives, shall not take part, inter alia, in home visits or the formal
questioning of persons within the framework of the national legislation of the
Member State concerned. However, they shall have access to information thus
obtained.

4.           If any Union financial
assistance granted under this Regulation is subsequently allocated to a third
party as a final beneficiary, the initial beneficiary, being the recipient of
the Union financial support, shall provide the Commission with all relevant
information regarding the identity of that final beneficiary.

5.           For this purpose, all
related documents shall be kept available by the beneficiaries for a period up
to three years after the final payment.

Article 12447
Suspension of payments,
reduction and cancellation of the financial contribution

1.           If the Commission
considers that Union funds have not been used in accordance with the conditions
laid down in this Regulation or in any other applicable Union legal act, it
shall notify the beneficiaries who shall have one month from the date of such
notification to send their observations to the Commission.

2.           If the beneficiaries do
not reply within that period or if their observations are not considered
satisfactory, the Commission shall reduce or cancel the financial contribution
granted or suspend the payments. Any amount unduly paid shall be repaid to the
Commission. Interest shall be added to any sums not repaid in due time under
the conditions laid down in the [Financial Regulation].

CHAPTER III
Evaluation and reporting

Article 12548
Evaluation

1.           Operations financed under
this Regulation shall be monitored regularly in order to follow their
implementation.

2.           The Commission shall
ensure the regular, independent, external evaluation of the operations
financed.

Article 12649
Reporting

The Commission shall submit to the European
Parliament and the Council:

(a)
an interim evaluation report on the results
obtained and the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the implementation of
the operations financed under this Regulation no later than 31 March 2017;

(b)
a Communication on the continuation of the
operations financed under this Regulation no later than 30 August 2018;

(c)
an ex-post evaluation report no later than 31
December 2021.

TITLE IX
PROCEDURAL PROVISIONS

Article 12750
Exercise of delegation

1.           The power to adopt
delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid
down in this Article.

2.           The delegation of power
referred to in the Articles 12, 33, 37, 38, 39, 46, 61, 64, 67, 75, 92, 105,
108, 111, 112, 114, 115, 119, 127,
131 and 153 shall be conferred for an indeterminate period of time from 1
January 2014.

3.           The delegation of power
referred to in Articles 12, 33, 37, 38, 39, 46, 61, 64, 67, 75, 92, 105, 108, 111, 112, 114, 115, 119, 127,
131 and 153 may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the
Council. A decision of revocation shall put an end to the delegation of the
powers specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the
publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at
a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any
delegated acts already in force.

4.           As soon as it adopts a
delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European
Parliament and to the Council.

5.           A delegated act adopted
pursuant to Articles12, 33, 37, 38, 39, 46, 61, 64, 67, 75, 92, 105, 108, 111, 112, 114, 115, 119, 127,
131 and 153 shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed
either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of 2 months of
notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if,
before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have
both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be
extended by 2 months at the initiative of the European Parliament or the
Council.

Article 12851
Committee procedure

1.           In the implementation of
the rules of the European Fisheries and Maritime Fund the Commission shall be
assisted by a Committee for the Fisheries and Maritime Fund. That committee
shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011.

2.           Where reference is made to
this paragraph, Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.

3.           Where reference is made to
this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.

TITLE X
FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 12952
Repeal

1.           Regulations (EC) No
1198/2006, (EC) No 861/2006, (EC) [No /2011establishing a Programme to support
the further development of an Integrated Maritime Policy], (EC) No 791/2007,
(EC) No 2328/2003 and Article 103 of Regulation 1224/2009 are repealed with
effect from 1 January 2014.

2.           References to the repealed
Regulations shall be construed as references to this Regulation.

Article 13053
Transitional provisions

1.           In order to facilitate the
transition from the systems established by Regulations (EC) No 1198/2006, (EC)
No 861/2006, (EC) [No /2011 establishing a Programme to support the further
development of an Integrated Maritime Policy] and (EC) No 791/2007 to the
system established by this Regulation, the Commission shall be empowered to
adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 12750 concerning the conditions under which support approved
by the Commission under those Regulations may be integrated into support
provided for under this Regulation, including for technical assistance and for
the ex-post evaluations.

2.           This Regulation shall not
affect the continuation or modification, including the total or partial
cancellation, of the projects concerned, until their closure, or of assistance
approved by the Commission on the basis of Regulations (EC) No 1198/2006, (EC)
No 861/2006, (EC) [No /2011 establishing a Programme to support the further
development of an Integrated Maritime Policy], (EC) No 791/2007 and Article 103
of Regulation 1224/2009 or any other legislation applying to that assistance on
31 December 2013.

3.           Applications made under
Council Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006 shall remain valid.

Article 13154

This Regulation shall enter into force on
the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the
European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding
in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels,

For the European Parliament                       For
the Council

The President                                                 The
President

ANNEX I

Specific
aid intensity

Type of operations || Percentage points

Related to small scale coastal fisheries may benefit from an increase by || 25

Located in the remote Greek Islands may benefit from an increase by || 35

Located in the outermost regions may benefit from an increase by || 35

Implemented by organisation of fishermen or other collective beneficiaries outside Chapter III of Title V may benefit from an increase by || 10

Implemented by producer organisation or associations of producer organisations may benefit from an increase by || 20

Under Article 78 on control and enforcement may benefit from an increase by || 30

Under Article 78 on control and enforcement related to small scale coastal fisheries may benefit from an increase by || 40

Implemented by enterprises that fall outside the definition of SMEs shall be reduced by || 20

ANNEX II

[Annual breakdown of commitment
appropriations for 2014 to 2020]

ANNEX III

General Ex ante conditionalities

Area || Ex-ante conditionality || Criteria for fulfilment

1. Anti-discrimination || The existence of a mechanism which ensures effective implementation and application of Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation[36] and Council Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin[37] || – Effective implementation and application of the Council Directive 2000/78/EC and Council Directive 2000/43/EC is ensured through: – institutional arrangements for the implementation, application and supervision of the above-mentionned directives; – a strategy for training and dissemination of information for staff involved in the implementation of the funds; – Measures to strengthen administrative capacity for implementation and application of the above-mentionned directives.

2. Gender equality || The existence of a strategy for the promotion of gender equality and a mechanism which ensures its effective implementation. || – Effective implementation and application of an explicit strategy for the promotion of gender equality is ensured through: – a system for collecting and analyzing data and indicators broken down by sex and to develop evidences-based gender policies; – a plan and ex-ante criteria for the integration of gender equality objectives through gender standards and guidelines; – Implementation mechanisms including involvement of a gender body and the relevant expertise to draft monitor and evaluate the interventions.

3. Disability || The existence of a mechanism which ensures effective implementation and application of the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. || – Effective implementation and application of the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities is ensured through: – Implementation of measures in line with Article 9 of the UN Convention to prevent, identify and eliminate obstacles and barriers to accessibility of persons with disabilities; – institutional arrangements for the implementation and supervision of the UN Convention in line with Article 33 of the Convention; – a plan for training and dissemination of information for staff involved in the implementation of the funds; – measures to strengthen administrative capacity for implementation and application of the UN Convention including appropriate arrangements for monitoring compliance with accessibility requirements.

4.. Public procurement || The existence of a mechanism which ensures effective implementation and application of European Parliament and Council Directive 2004/18/EC and Directive 2004/17/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 coordinating the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors[38] and their adequate supervision and surveillance. || – Effective implementation and application of Directives 2004/18/EC and 2004/17/EC is ensured through: – complete transposition of Directives 2004/18/EC and 2004/17/EC; – institutional arrangements for the implementation, application and supervision of EU public procurement law; – measures which ensure adequate supervision and surveillance of transparent contract award procedures and adequate information thereon; – a strategy for training and dissemination of information for staff involved in the implementation of the funds; – Measures to strengthen administrative capacity for implementation and application of EU public procurement law.

5. State aid || The existence of a mechanism which ensures effective implementation and application of EU State aid law || – Effective implementation and application of EU State aid law is ensured through: – institutional arrangements for the implementation, application and supervision of EU State aid law; – a strategy for training and dissemination of information for staff involved in the implementation of the funds; – measures to strengthen administrative capacity for implementation and application of EU State aid rules.

6. Environmental legislation relating to Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)and, Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) || The existence of a mechanism which ensures the effective implementation and application of Union environmental legislation related to EIA and SEA in accordance with Council Directive (85/337/EEC) of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment[39] and with Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2001 on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment[40]. || – Effective implementation and application of Union environmental legislation is ensured through: – complete and correct transposition of EIA and SEA directives; – institutional arrangements for the implementation, application and supervision of EIA and SEA Directives; – a strategy for training and dissemination of information for staff involved in the implementation of EIA and SEA Directives; – measures to ensure sufficient administrative capacity.

7. Statistical systems and result indicators || The existence of a statistical system necessary to undertake evaluations to assess the effectiveness and impact of the programmes. The existence of an effective system of result indicators necessary to monitor progress towards results and to undertake impact evaluation. || – A multi-annual plan for timely collection and aggregation of data is in place that includes: – the identification of sources and mechanisms to ensure statistical validation; – arrangements for publication and public availability. – an effective system of results indicators including: – the selection of result indicators for each programme providing information on those aspects of the well-being and progress of people that motivate policy actions financed by the programme; – the establishment of targets for these indicators; – the respect for each indicator of the following requisites: robustness and statistical validation, clarity of normative interpretation, responsiveness to policy, timely collection and public availability of data; adequate procedures in place to ensure that all operations financed by the programme adopt an effective system of indicators.

Specific Ex ante conditionalities

1. Priorities-linked conditionalities

EU priority for EMFF/ CSF Thematic Objective (TO) || Ex ante conditionality || Criteria for fulfilment

EMFF priority: 2. Fostering innovative, competitive and knowledge based fisheries 3. Fostering innovative, competitive and knowledge based aquaculture TO 3: enhancing the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises || Business set-up: Specific actions have been carried out for the effective implementation of the Small Business Act (SBA) and its Review of 23 February 2011 including the "Think Small First" principle || The specific actions include: – measures to reduce the time to set-up business to 3 working days and the cost to €100; – measures to reduce the time needed to get licenses and permits to take up and perform the specific activity of an enterprise to 3 months; – a mechanism for systematic assessment of the impact of legislation on SMEs using an "SME test" while taking into account differences in the size of enterprises, where relevant

EMFF priority: 3. Fostering innovative, competitive and knowledge based aquaculture 5. Promoting a sustainable and resource efficient aquaculture TO 6: protecting the environment and promoting resource efficiency || The establishment of a multiannual national strategic plan on aquaculture as referred in Article 43 of the [Regulation on the Common Fisheries Policy] by 2014; || – A multiannual national strategic plan on aquaculture is transmitted to the Commission at the latest by the day of transmission of the OP – The OP includes information on the complementarities with the multiannual national strategic plan on aquaculture

EMFF Priority: 6 Fostering the implementation of the CFP TO 6: protecting the environment and promoting resource efficiency || Proven administrative capacity to comply with the data requirements for fisheries management set out in Article 37 of the [Regulation on the CFP] || – Proven administrative capacity to prepare and apply a multi-annual programme for data collection, to be reviewed by STECF and accepted by the Commission – Proven administrative capacity to prepare and implement an annual work plan for data collection, to be reviewed by STECF and accepted by the Commission – Sufficient capacity in human resources allocation to undertake bilateral or multilateral agreements with other MS if work to implement the data collection obligations is shared

EMFF Priority: 6 Fostering the implementation of the CFP TO 6: protecting the environment and promoting resource efficiency || Proven administrative capacity to comply with the implementation of a Union control inspection and enforcement system as stipulated in Article 46 of the [Regulation on the CFP] and further specified in Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009. || The specific actions include: – Proven administrative capacity to prepare and implement the 2014-2020 national control program as referred to in Article 19(l) – Proven administrative capacity to prepare and implement the national control action programme for multiannual plans (Art 46 Control Regulation) – Proven administrative capacity to prepare and implement a common control program that may be developed with other Member States (art 94 CR) – Proven administrative capacity to prepare and implement the Specific Control and Inspection Programmes (art 95 CR). – Proven administrative capacity to apply a system of effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions for serious infringements (art 90 CR) – Proven administrative capacity to apply the point system for serious infringements (art 92 CR) Sufficient capacity in human resources allocation to implement the Control regulation

ANNEX IV
Information and communication on support from the EMFF

1.           List of operations

The list of operations referred to Article 12043 shall contain, in at least
one of the official languages of the Member State, the following data fields:

–
Beneficiary name (only legal entities; no
natural persons shall be named);

–
Community Fleet Register (CFR) number of fishing
vessels as referred to in Article 10 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 26/2004
of 30 December 2003[41]
(to be completed only where the operation is linked to a fishing vessel)

–
Operation name;

–
Operation summary;

–
Operation start date;

–
Operation end date (expected date for physical
completion or full implementation of the operation);

–
Total eligible expenditure;

–
Amount of EU contribution;

–
Operation postcode;

–
Country;

–
Name of union priority;

–
Date of last update of the list of operations.

The headings of the data fields and the names
of the operations shall be also provided in at least one other official
language of the European Union.

2.           Information and publicity
measures for the public

2.1.        Responsibilities of the
Member State

1.           The Member State shall
ensure that the information and publicity measures aim at the widest possible
media coverage using various forms and methods of communication at the
appropriate level.

2.           The Member State shall be
responsible for organising at least the following information and publicity
measures:

(a)
a major information activity publicising the
launch of the operational programme;

(b)
at least twice during the programming period
major information activity which promotes the funding opportunities and the
strategies pursued and presents the achievements of the operational programme;

(c)
displaying the flag of the European Union in
front of, or at a place visible to the public, at the premises of each managing
authority;

(d)
publishing electronically the list of operations
in accordance with section 1;

(e)
giving examples of operations, by operational
programme, on the single website or on the operational programme's website that
is accessible through the single website portal; the examples should be in a
widely spoken official language of the European Union other than the official
language or languages of the Member State concerned;

(f)
a specific section of the single website shall
be dedicated to give a short summary of innovation and eco-innovation
operations;

(g)
updating information about the operational programme's implementation,
including its main achievements, on the single website
or on the operational programme's website that is accessible through the single
website portal.

3.           The managing authority
shall involve in information and publicity measures, in accordance with
national laws and practices, the following bodies:

(h)
the partners referred to in Article 5 of the
[Regulation (EU) No [...] laying down Common Provisions];

(i)
information centres on Europe, as well as
Commission representation offices in the Member States;

(j)
educational and research institutions.

These bodies shall widely disseminate the
information described in Article 12043(1)(a) and (b).

3.           Information measures for
potential beneficiaries and beneficiaries

3.1.        Information measures for
potential beneficiaries

1.           The managing authority
shall ensure that the operational programme's objectives and funding
opportunities offered by the EMFF are disseminated widely to potential
beneficiaries and all interested parties.

2.           The managing authority
shall ensure that potential beneficiaries are informed on at least the
following:

(k)
the conditions of eligibility of expenditure to
be met in order to qualify for support under an operational programme;

(l)
a description of the admissibility conditions
for applications, procedures for examining applications for funding and of the
time periods involved;

(m)
the criteria for selecting the operations to be
supported;

(n)
the contacts at national, regional or local
level that are able to provide information on the operational programmes;

(o)
that applications should propose communication
activities, proportional to the size of the operation, in order to inform the
public about the operation's aims and the EU support to the operation.

3.2.        Information measures for
beneficiaries

The managing authority shall inform
beneficiaries that acceptance of funding constitutes an acceptance of their
inclusion in the list of operations published in accordance with Article 12043(2).

LEGISLATIVE FINANCIAL STATEMENT

1.           FRAMEWORK OF THE
PROPOSAL/INITIATIVE

              1.1.    Title of the proposal/initiative

              1.2.    Policy
area(s) concerned in the ABM/ABB structure

              1.3.    Nature
of the proposal/initiative

              1.4.    Objective(s)

              1.5.    Grounds
for the proposal/initiative

              1.6.    Duration
and financial impact

              1.7.    Management
method(s) envisaged

2.           MANAGEMENT MEASURES

              2.1.    Monitoring
and reporting rules

              2.2.    Management
and control system

              2.3.    Measures
to prevent fraud and irregularities

3.           ESTIMATED FINANCIAL
IMPACT OF THE PROPOSAL/INITIATIVE

              3.1.    Heading(s)
of the multiannual financial framework and expenditure budget line(s) affected

              3.2.    Estimated
impact on expenditure

              3.2.1. Summary of estimated impact on expenditure

              3.2.2. Estimated
impact on operational appropriations

              3.2.3. Estimated
impact on appropriations of an administrative nature

              3.2.4. Compatibility
with the current multiannual financial framework

              3.2.5. Third-party
participation in financing

              3.3.    Estimated
impact on revenue

LEGISLATIVE FINANCIAL STATEMENT

1.           FRAMEWORK OF THE
PROPOSAL/INITIATIVE

1.1.        Title of the
proposal/initiative

[Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the
Council on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund [repealing Council
Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006 and Council Regulation(EC) No 861/2006 and Council
Regulation No XXX/2011 on integrated maritime policy

1.2.        Policy area(s) concerned
in the ABM/ABB structure[42]

[Policy area Title 11"Maritime Affairs and Fisheries" of
Heading 2…]

specify current budget lines merged into new:

Post 2013 budget lines:

1.3.        Nature of the
proposal/initiative

¨ The
proposal/initiative relates to a new action (on the European Maritime and
Fisheries Fund [repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006 and Council
Regulation(EC) No 861/2006 and Council Regulation No XXX/2011 on integrated
maritime policy for next funding period, 2014-2020)

¨ The
proposal/initiative relates to a new action following a pilot
project/preparatory action[43]

¨ The
proposal/initiative relates to the extension of an existing action

¨ The
proposal/initiative relates to an action redirected towards a new action

1.4.        Objectives

1.4.1.     The Commission's
multiannual strategic objective(s) targeted by the proposal/initiative

The new financial instrument will contribute mainly to 3 flagship
initiatives under Europe 2020 strategy: 1) Resource efficiency, 2) Innovation
Union and 3) an Agenda for new skills and jobs. In line with the Europe 2020
strategy the general objectives of the future funding instrument are the
following:

- To support the objectives of the reformed Common Fisheries Policy
by promoting sustainable and viable fishing and aquaculture

- To support the further development and implementation of the
Integrated Maritime policy

- To support a balanced territorial development of fisheries areas.

1.4.2.     Specific objective(s) and
ABM/ABB activity(ies) concerned

Specific
objective under shared management

Dimensions || Specific objectives

Increasing employment and territorial cohesion || – promotion of economic growth, social inclusion, creation of jobs and supporting labour mobility in coastal and inland communities depending on fishing and aquaculture

– diversification of fisheries activities into other sectors of maritime economy and growth of maritime economy, including mitigation of climate change

Fostering innovative, competitive and knowledge based fisheries || – support to strengthening technological development, innovation and knowledge transfer

– enhancement of the competitiveness and viability of fisheries, in particular of small scale coastal fleet, and improvement of safety or working conditions in t fisheries

– development of new professional skills and lifelong learning

– improved market organisation for fishery products

Fostering innovative, competitive and knowledge based aquaculture || – support to strengthening technological development, innovation and knowledge transfer

– enhancement of the competitiveness and viability of aquaculture enterprises, SMEs in particular

– development of new professional skills and lifelong learning

– improved market organisation for aquaculture products

Promoting a sustainable and resource efficient fisheries || – reduction of the impact of fisheries on the marine environment

– protection and restoration of marine biodiversity and ecosystems including the services they provide

Promoting a sustainable and resource efficient aquaculture || – enhancement of ecosystems related to aquaculture and promotion of resource efficient aquaculture

– promotion of aquaculture with high level of environmental protection and of animal health and welfare and of public health and safety

Fostering the implementation of the CFP || – supply of scientific knowledge and collection of data

– support to control and enforcement, enhancing institutional capacity and an efficient public administration

Specific objective under direct
management

Dimensions || Specific objectives

Innovation and knowledge based fisheries || – Improved market organisation for fishery (Observatory)

Sustainable and resource efficient fisheries || – Increased supply of scientific knowledge and collection of data for sustainable fisheries management – Increased compliance through control

Development and Implementation of IMP || – Develop cross-sector instruments for better policy-making (Maritime Spatial Planning, Integrated Maritime Surveillance, Marine Knowledge) – Promote an integration of policies that enables sustainable and cross-border/ecosystem-based management of European sea basins.

Governance of the CFP and IMP || – Promote integrated governance of CFP, maritime and coastal affairs – Further enhance and streamline stakeholders' involvement in fisheries management and aquaculture by providing Union financial assistance to the Advisory Councils – Support to cover costs of information and communication activities linked to the CFP and IMP and costs of experts and stakeholder representatives participating in Commission meetings on matters relating to the CFP and IMP

ABM/ABB activity(ies) concerned

11 01 ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENDITURE OF THE ‘MARITIME AFFAIRS AND
FISHERIES’ POLICY AREA

11 02 FISHERIES MARKETS

11 03 INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES AND LAW OF THE SEA (in part)

11 04 GOVERNANCE OF THE COMMON FISHERIES POLICY

11 06 EUROPEAN FISHERIES FUND (EFF)

11 07 CONSERVATION, MANAGEMENT AND EXPLOITATION OF LIVING AQUATIC
RESOURCES

11 08 CONTROL AND ENFORCEMENT OF THE COMMON FISHERIES POLICY

11 09 MARITIME POLICY

1.4.3.     Expected result(s) and
impact under shared and direct management

Specify the effects
which the proposal/initiative should have on the beneficiaries/groups targeted.

The post – 2013 proposal will be a major financing instrument for
the implementation of reformed Common Fisheries Policy. This will be achieved
through the discontinuation of costly and inefficient fleet subsidies and a
concentration on a limited number of Common Fisheries Policy environmental,
economic and social objectives, in line with Europe 2020 and with a primary
focus on fostering sustainable fishing, encourage green innovation, induce
quicker transition towards new fisheries management modes and creating growth
and jobs in fisheries dependent communities will play a key role in this
transition.

The expected results and impact will depend on the operational
programmes that Member States will submit to the Commission. Member States will
be asked to set targets in their programmes.

Stakeholder || Description of stakeholder || Key interests/effects

Beneficiaries || Catching sector in the EU || – EC fishing vessel owners, operators and crew. || – Viability of businesses. – Greater resilience to economic shocks, long term business planning. – New skills, better marketing and promotion. Sustainable fishing with less discards.

Aquaculture sector in the EU || – Owners, operators and staff of aquaculture businesses || – Viability of businesses. – Increased market incentives for sustainable/extensive aquaculture, including in NATURA 2000 sites. – Meeting costs of environmental requirements. – New skills, better marketing and promotion.

Fisheries dependent communities || – Communities dependent upon fisheries or aquaculture for their livelihoods || – Viable coastal and inland communities dependent on fishing.

Processing sector || – Those processing raw material both imported and caught within EC waters || – Increased competitiveness and value added, stable supplies of quality products.

Research sector || – Scientific research bodies and scientific community providing CFP and marine data. || – Supply of timely, high quality, robust and extensive data on fisheries; allowing for knowledge based policy. Increase in marine knowledge, data integration.

Administrations & bodies || – National, regional and local bodies involved in collecting data, ensuring enforcement and control of the CFP – Advisory Councils, RFMOs || – Support to more efficient, effective and practical implementation of their tasks

– National, regional and local bodies protecting the coast, monitoring the marine environment, ensuring border control and maritime safety. || – Support to more efficient, effective and practical implementation of their tasks. – Increased visibility for the concerns and financial needs of coastal regions, including a better coordination and a more strategic use of EU funds.

Others || Maritime Sectors in the EU || – Operators engaged in coastal or offshore economic activities (commercial fleet, tourism, ports etc) || – Improved security and safety – Reduced administrative burden in maritime areas via stable and integrated maritime governance structures (including spatial planning). – Increased communication between maritime industries (maritime clusters in sea basins)

Consumers || – Those consuming fisheries and aquaculture products || – Availability of high quality fisheries and aquaculture products with high nutritional values.

Third countries || – Fishing sector in competition with EU fleets – Aquaculture producers, exporters to the EU. – Administration. || – Access to the EU market. – Development of sectoral capacity through the access to EU support.

NGOs, the civil society and EU citizens || – Environmental NGOs. – The wider public with an interest in and concern for IMP and fisheries sectors, the marine environment || – Sustainable management of seas and coastal areas, including the maintenance of fish populations, marine biodiversity, and the amenity value of oceans, rivers and lakes. – Development of joint responsibility for environmental sustainability across sectors.

1.4.4.     Indicators of results and
impact under shared management

Specify the
indicators for monitoring implementation of the proposal/initiative.

The proposals provide for the establishment of a common monitoring
and evaluation framework with a view to measuring the performance of the CFP.
That framework shall include all instruments related to the monitoring and
evaluation.

The impact of these CFP measures shall be measured through the
following indicators (indicative):

–
Increase in the gross value added per employee
in the fishing fleet and in aquaculture

–
Fuel efficiency of fish capture

–
Energy cost in aquaculture

–
Increase in the value or volume of products
channelled via Producers Organisations

–
Discarding rates of commercially exploited
species

–
Degree of compliance with data calls

–
Number of assessed stocks in relation to total
exploited stocks

–
Amount of serious infringements detected

–
Number of jobs created and jobs maintained by
local partnerships

By means of implementing acts, the Commission shall define the set
of indicators specific to these objectives.

1.5.        Grounds for the
proposal/initiative

1.5.1.     Requirement(s) to be met in
the short or long term

In order to meet the multi-annual objectives of the CFP and to
fulfil the relevant requirements of the Treaty, the proposals aim to lay down
the legislative framework for the CFP for the period after 2013

1.5.2.     Added value of EU
involvement

According to TFEU the Union shall have exclusive competence in the
conservation of marine biological resources and shared competence for the rest
of the CFP. In addition, the CFP manages resources that are common to Member
States and closely interconnected with marine ecosystems which do not respect
national borders.

The capacity of the EU to move towards sustainable fishing – taking
into the account the limited successes of the CFP so far and the progress made
in this area by EU partners - will be a critical test for the EU credibility in
claiming the leadership of the sustainable development agenda and one of the
key elements of the resource efficiency flagship of Europe 2020.

1.5.3.     Lessons learned from
similar experiences in the past

On the basis of the evaluation of the current policy framework, an
extensive consultation with stakeholders as well as an analysis of future
challenges and needs, a comprehensive impact assessment has been carried out.
More details can be found in the impact assessment and the explanatory
memorandum that are accompanying the legal proposals.

1.5.4.     Coherence and possible
synergy with other relevant instruments under shared management

The legislative proposals concerned by this financial statement
should be seen in the broader context of the proposal for a single framework
regulation with common rules for the common strategic framework funds (EMFF,
ERDF, ESF, Cohesion Fund and EAFRD). That framework regulation will make an
important contribution to reducing administrative burden, to spending EU funds
in an effective way, and to put simplification into practice. This also
underpins the new concepts of the common strategic framework for all these
funds and the upcoming Partnership Contracts which will also cover these funds.

The common strategic framework, which will be established, will
translate the objectives and priorities of the Europe 2020 Strategy into
priorities for the EMFF together with the ERDF, ESF, Cohesion Fund and EAFRD,
which will ensure an integrated use of the funds to deliver common objectives.

The common strategic framework will also set out coordination
mechanisms with other relevant Union policies and instruments.

1.6.        Duration and financial
impact

¨ Proposal/initiative of limited
duration

–
¨  Proposal/initiative in effect from 01/01/2014 to 31/12/2020

–
¨  Financial impact from 2014 to 2023

¨ Proposal/initiative of unlimited
duration

–
Implementation with a start-up period from YYYY
to YYYY,

–
followed by full-scale operation.

1.7.        Management mode(s)
envisaged[44]

¨ Centralised direct management by the Commission

¨ Centralised indirect management with the delegation of implementation tasks to:

–
¨  executive agencies

–
¨  bodies set up by the Communities[45]

–
¨  national public-sector bodies/bodies with public-service mission

–
¨  persons entrusted with the implementation of specific actions
pursuant to Title V of the Treaty on European Union and identified in the
relevant basic act within the meaning of Article 49 of the Financial Regulation

¨ Shared management with the Member States

¨ Decentralised management with third countries

¨ Joint management with international organisations (to be specified)

If more than one
management mode is indicated, please provide details in the
"Comments" section.

Comments

Shared
management: Title III, IV and V

Direct
management: Title VI and VII

2.           MANAGEMENT MEASURES

2.1.        Monitoring and reporting
rules under shared management

Specify frequency
and conditions.

The European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) is one of the Funds
operating under the Common Strategic Framework (CSF). Although the bulk of the
expenditure under this instrument will be administered under shared management,
there is a small amount of expenditure that is subject to direct management by
the Commission.

I. SHARED MANAGEMENT

Monitoring Committees set up for each operational programme, and
annual implementation reports for each operational programme, will be at the
heart of the approach. Monitoring Committees will meet at least once per year.
Annual review meetings between the Commission and Member States (MS) complement
the system.

In addition to the implementation reports for each operational
programme, progress reports submitted by MS in 2017 and 2019 (covering
implementation of the Partnership Contracts) will be summarised in strategic
reports prepared by the Commission and submitted to the EU institutions. In
2018 and 2020, the Commission shall include in its Annual Progress Report to
the spring meeting of the European Council a section summarising the strategic
report, in particular with regard to progress made towards Union priorities. An
ex post evaluation report shall be prepared by the MS for their EMFF programme.
This report shall be submitted to the Commission by 31 December 2023 at the
latest.

The monitoring and reporting system will use quantitative and
qualitative information. The quantitative tools include both financial and
physical information. The physical information includes output indicators and
the development of result indicators. The Commission has specified a set of
output indicators that it will use for the aggregation of information at an EU
level. At key points of the implementation period (2017 and 2019), additional
analytical requirements on the progress of programmes are part of the annual
implementation reports. The monitoring and reporting system fully uses the
potential of electronic data transfers.

It should be noted that measures previously falling under direct
management are now foreseen to be funded under shared management:

- marketing and processing related measures as well as measures
supporting the fisheries markets organisation and compensation for additional
costs in outermost regions for fishery products, and

- measures supporting the control, inspection and enforcement system
as well as measures supporting data collection.

II. DIRECT MANAGEMENT

The EMFF shall finance the following expenditure under direct
management:

- measures supporting the development and implementation of the
Integrated Maritime Policy;

- measures supporting scientific advice and knowledge, Advisory
Councils, voluntary contributions to international organisations, the
implementation of the certain measures related to the control, inspection and
enforcement system as well as communication activities, and

- technical assistance.

For the first two schemes, the Commission shall adopt annual work
programmes by implementing acts. The EMFF legislation sets out the information
these programmes should contain in respect of grants and public procurement. Regular
monitoring and periodic reporting are also foreseen, with the Commission
expected to submit to the European Parliament and the Council:

- an interim evaluation report on the results obtained and the
qualitative and quantitative aspects of the implementation of the actions
financed under this Regulation no later than 31 March 2017;

- a Communication on the continuation of the actions financed under
this Regulation no later than 30 August 2018;

- an ex-post evaluation report no later than 31 December 2021.

2.2.        Management and control
system under shared management

2.2.1.     Risk(s) identified

Since 2008 the European Court of Auditors has disclosed in its
annual report an estimated error rate for the Agriculture and Natural Resources
policy area as a whole for each financial year (FYs 2007-2010) based on an
independent, annual random sample of transactions. The Court's estimation of
the most likely error rate has been between 2% and 5% (FYs 2007, 2009) and less
than 2% for FY 2008. For FY 2010 the rate disclosed was 2.3%. The Court's
conclusion is that the supervisory and control systems are partly effective in ensuring the regularity of payments.

The Court's sample of transactions in respect of its annual audit
(DAS) work is typically small (for FY 2010, 12 payments were tested, covering
Environment; Maritime Affairs and Fisheries; and Health and Consumer
Protection). Few errors have been reported for the FIFG and EFF. FIFG was not
part of the Court's sample at all for FYs 2006 and 2007.

Inasmuch as it is possible to discern error trends, the most
frequent errors revealed in the last 3 years have related to non-respect of
publicity rules (41% - but in all cases without financial effect), and funding
of ineligible categories of costs (30%), which included i.a. ineligible
subcontracting costs, and a project delayed beyond the eligibility period.
Other (non-quantifiable) compliance issues make up the remainder.

All quantifiable errors are eligibility-related.

I. SHARED MANAGEMENT

1. 1994-1999 programming period (closed)

The overall error rate for this programming period can be based on
the cumulative financial corrections imposed by the end of 2010 when all
programmes were closed (€99m, or 3.88% of the amount allocated).

2. 2000-2006 programming period (FIFG)

Closure of the programmes is ongoing; the overall error rate for
this programming period is best estimated by considering the years when the
programme was at "cruising speed", i.e. from 2005 onwards. On this
basis, the annual error rate for FIFG (calculated as the aggregate of errors
found from detailed tests of projects, systems audit work and potential flat
rate corrections) has typically been at around 1% of payments made in each
year.

Given all the above, the overall error rate for the programming
period is estimated at approximately 2%.

3. 2007-2013 programming period (EFF)

On the basis of all currently available audit evidence, the error
rate is considered to be below 2%. For 2009, the maximum amount at risk from
the analysis of the annual control reports (ACRs), national and other DGs'
reports for programmes under categories 2b and 3 was 1.18% of total payments made
during the year. The corresponding figure for 2010 is 1.44%.

II. DIRECT MANAGEMENT

The error rates should also be examined from a multi-annual
perspective since, in a given year, DG MARE audits several years of declared
and paid expenditure. When account is taken of previous years' error rates
disclosed by 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 ex-post controls, the multi-annual error
rates on samples for Data Collection programmes and Surveillance and Control
programmes are, respectively, 1.89% and 4.33% (amount of ineligible amounts
identified by ex-post controls compared with amount of financial transactions
actually controlled ex-post).

For Markets and the Outermost Regions programme no ineligible
expenditure was identified in 2010 or in the previous years.

2.2.2.     Control method(s) envisaged

I. SHARED MANAGEMENT

The control mechanisms underpinning the EMFF
instrument will change markedly post 2013. Member States (MS) will be obliged
to designate three bodies in particular.

1. Managing Authority (MA)

The MA will be responsible in the main for
overseeing programme implementation; it is for the MS to decide whether
economies can be obtained by using the bodies which currently perform this role
for the EFF, or by assigning the tasks to a MA from another Fund. Irrespective
of the nature and extent of checks and controls it may carry out (it is for
each MS to make its own arrangements in this respect), the MA's key control
role is to ensure that the PA (which is ultimately responsible for the payment)
receives all necessary information, in particular on the procedures operated
and any controls carried out in relation to operations selected for funding,
before payments are authorised.

2. Paying Agency (PA)

The PA must fulfil certain accreditation
criteria (Annex I of Commission Regulation 885/2006 illustrates the components
of an effective management and control system). Failure to do so could result
in the withdrawal of its accreditation by the MS, and thus its ability to
request reimbursement of EU monies from the Commission. It may delegate its
tasks except payment, although it retains ultimate responsibility for their
proper execution.

The PA is responsible, for clearance purposes,
for the production of the annual accounts information. This should include the
declaration of assurance by PA management as to the completeness, accuracy and
veracity of the annual accounts; the proper functioning of the internal control
systems; the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions; and the
respect of the principle of sound financial management. It should also feature
a summary report of all available audits and controls carried out, including an
analysis of systemic or recurrent weaknesses as well as corrective actions
taken or planned.

3. Certification Body (CB)

The CB must be operationally independent of the
PA and the accrediting authority, and technically competent (it is expected to
follow international auditing standards). As is currently the case for the
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), it will be responsible for the annual audit
of each PA's accounts. The CB is bound to draw up a report of its findings, and
is required (via a certificate) to issue an audit opinion on the truth,
completeness, and accuracy of the PA's accounts, as well as an opinion on the
management declaration of assurance covering the areas mentioned in the
previous paragraph.

The introduction of an annual clearance of
accounts system should incentivise national and regional authorities to
undertake quality controls in a timely manner in view of the annual
certification of accounts to the Commission. It constitutes a reinforcement of
present financial management arrangements and offers better assurance that
irregular expenditure is excluded from the accounts each year, rather than at
the end of the programming period.

This estimation is nevertheless subject to the
capacity of the Commission and Member States to address the principal risks
outlined above.

The proposed architecture of the management and
control systems represents an evolution of the set-up in place in 2007-2013 and
preserves most of the functions carried out in the current period including
administrative and on-the spot verifications, audits of management and control
systems and audits of operations. It also maintains the role of the Commission,
along with the possibility for interruptions, suspensions and financial
corrections by the Commission.

In order to reinforce accountability, programme
authorities would be accredited by a national accrediting body in charge of
their ongoing supervision. The proposal offers the flexibility to keep the
current architecture of three key authorities by programme in cases where the
current system has been proven to be effective. However it also offers the
possibility to merge the managing and certifying authority and thus decrease
the number of involved authorities in the Member States. A smaller number of
bodies in place would reduce the administrative burden and enhance the
possibility for building stronger administrative capacity, but also permit a clearer
distribution of responsibilities.

The following proposals will increase the costs of
control:

-the creation and functioning of an accrediting
body (the costs of which may be offset by the merger of the managing and
certifying authorities, if this option is selected by the Member State);

- the submission of certified annual accounts and
an annual management declaration, which implies having carried out all
necessary controls within the accounting year (which may require additional
administrative effort);

- the need for additional audit activity by the
audit authorities to audit the management declaration or the need to finish its
audits and express an audit opinion in a shorter period of time compared to the
current obligations.

There are however also proposals which will reduce
the costs of control:

- the option to merge the managing and certifying
authorities, which could allow the Member State to save a substantial part of the
current costs relating to certification due to better administrative efficiency,
reduced need for coordination and reduction of the scope of audits;

-the use of simplified costs which reduces
administrative costs and burdens at all levels, for both administrations and
beneficiaries;

-proportionate control arrangements for management
verifications and for audits;

-annual closure, which will reduce the cost of
retention of documents for control purposes for public administrations and
beneficiaries.

Therefore overall it is expected that proposals
will lead to a redistribution of control costs (remaining around 2% of the
total funding managed), rather than an increase or a reduction. It is however
anticipated that this redistribution of costs (across functions and due to the
proportionate control arrangements, also across Member States and programmes)
will enable more effective mitigation of risks and thus will lead to an error
rate below 5%.

In addition to changes in the financial management
and control arrangement which contribute to the effective detection and early
exclusion of errors from the accounts, the proposal foresees simplification in
several areas that contributes to the prevention of errors. As indicated above,
measures proposed in these areas include:

- A more extensive use of simplified costs which
reduces errors related to financial management, eligibility rules and audit
trail, and reorients both implementation and control towards the performance of
operations.

- A simpler, flat rate based, approach to
revenue-generating operations which will reduce the risk of errors in
determining and deducting the revenue generated by operations.

- Harmonisation, clarification and simplification
of eligibility rules with other EU financial support instruments which will
reduce mistakes made by beneficiaries who use assistance from different
sources.

- Annual closure of operations or expenditure,
which decreases audit trail errors by shortening the time period for document
retention and avoids the substantial build-up of administrative workload linked
to the one-off closure at the end of the programming period.

Most of the simplifications listed above also
contribute to the reduction of administrative burden for beneficiaries and thus
represent a simultaneous reduction of risks of error and of administrative
burden.

II. COMMISSION CONTROL METHODS APPLICABLE TO SHARED MANAGEMENT

Payment interruption and suspension

The authorising officer by sub-delegation (AOSD) has the option of
interrupting the payment deadline for an interim payment claim for a maximum
period of ninesix months if
a MS fails to comply with EU rules. More serious breaches of MS' obligations
are dealt with via payment suspension, which will not be lifted until the MS
can demonstrate that it has taken the appropriate remedial action. In extreme
cases the Community contribution to the programme may be cancelled.

Financial corrections

Although the MS is responsible in the first instance for the
identification and recovery of irregularities, and the making of any financial
corrections, the Commission has the power to impose corrections, be they
precisely determined or flat-rate. It is expected to take account of the nature
and gravity of any irregularity, and to assess the financial impact of the
deficiencies.

III. COMMISSION CONTROL METHODS APPLICABLE TO DIRECT MANAGEMENT

All programmes are checked before approval to ensure compliance with
the applicable legislation and the eligibility of the proposed expenditure.

All expenditure declarations are checked by the operational services
against the Commission financing decision and the relevant programme for
eligibility and consistency.

Prior to authorisation of commitments or payments, ex-ante
verification of the transactions is carried out based together with the checks
on the data transmitted and the proof of payment to ensure the eligibility of
the reimbursement claims.

With a view to preventing irregularities monitoring missions in the
form of on-the-spot checks are conducted by the Commission to check the actual
implementation of programmes and to verify the eligibility of costs prior to
payment.

In addition to ex ante controls of financial transactions, the
Directorate General also ensures 100% ex ante verification of documents and
procedures in relation to procurement and grants.

The management of tendering and grants procedures is decentralised
to the Operational Units of the Directorate General which are responsible for
operational verification. An additional independent verification is carried out
centrally by the Budget Unit which performs checks during the entire lifecycle
of the procedure, i.e. it reviews drafts of tendering/call for proposals
specifications, invitations to tender/to submit a proposal, contract notices,
evaluation and award reports, award decisions and contracts/agreements. There
is also an independent advisory committee (the Procurement Examination Group)
which examines all procurement procedures above the publication threshold and
which advises the AOSDs on the legality and regularity of the procedures.

IV. COMMISSION CONTROL METHODS APPLICABLE TO ALL EMFF EXPENDITURE

All financial transactions of the Directorate General are subject to
ex ante operational and financial verification.

Commission audits

Throughout the implementation period, DG MARE's ex-post audit sector
carries out systems audits with substantive testing to confirm assurance on the
effective functioning of the systems and requires the Member States to correct
any system weaknesses and irregular expenditure found. The Commission uses the
results of its own audits as well as the results of the national Audit
Authority to obtain assurance. The audits are selected on the basis of a risk
analysis.

V. COST OF CONTROLS AND COST-EFFECTIVENESS

DG MARE sought direct, up-to-date information on this issue, by
contacting 15 MS who between them account for 93% of EFF expenditure. MS were
requested to estimate the costs of controlling the measures financed by the EFF
for 2010. The template includes an illustration of the depth of controls, as
suggested by DG BUDG.

At the time of writing, the information received so far is under
analysis, and some MS have still to respond. It is too early to say whether the
costs to MS of EFF controls are in line with the results reported by DG REGIO: "The costs of tasks related to control (at national and
regional level, excluding the costs of the Commission) are estimated to remain
around 2% of the total funding administered in the period 2007-2013[46]."

It is likely that, overall, error rates and control costs will
remain broadly similar in the next programming period to those under EFF. The
following may increase the costs of control:

- Abolition of vessel scrapping and temporary cessation premia: Relatively straightforward to administer and control, and have
posed little burden for beneficiaries. There is no equivalent in the new
programming period; costs of control and error rates attaching to new measures
could initially be higher, as Member States and beneficiaries acclimatise to
the new rules.

The following are likely to decrease the costs of control:

- Lump sums/simplified costs: No
requirement to evidence documents in support of costs incurred, so:

•        Less demanding in terms of controls

•        Problems of proof of eligibility removed, so lower error
rate

•        No need for lengthy document retention by beneficiaries, so
lower burden (possibly fewer audits);

- Simplified co-financing rate and aid intensity systems: these will be easier to apply and to verify.

•        One
co-financing rate of 75% applicable to all regions[47]; 3 used currently;

•        One aid intensity fixed at 50% of total eligible expenditure[48]; 24 used currently.

Furthermore, should MS elect to use Paying
Agencies which are already accredited to make EAGF and EAFRD payments under the
CAP, and the existing Certification Bodies, they could expect to benefit from
the reduced administrative costs of a common system.

2.3.        Measures to prevent fraud
and irregularities under shared management

Specify existing or
envisaged prevention and protection measures.

The Structural Funds services together with OLAF have put in place a
Joint Fraud Prevention Strategy which foresees a series of actions to be
carried out both internally by the Commission and involving the Member States
to prevent fraud in structural actions under shared management.

The Commission Communication of 24.6.2011 on an anti-fraud strategy
(COM(2011)376 final) welcomes the existing strategy as a best practice
initiative and envisages complementary actions to it, the most important being
that the Commission proposal for 2014-2020 regulations request Member States to
put in place fraud prevention strategies which are effective and proportionate
to the identified fraud risks.

The current Commission proposal includes an explicit requirement to
put in place such strategies under article 86(4)('c). This should reinforce
fraud awareness in Member States among all bodies involved in the management
and control of funds and thus reduce the risk of fraud. The proposed regulation
would require Member States to put in place effective and proportionate
anti-fraud measures taking into account the identified risks.

3.           ESTIMATED FINANCIAL
IMPACT OF THE PROPOSAL/INITIATIVE

3.1.        Heading(s) of the
multiannual financial framework and expenditure budget line(s) affected

· Existing expenditure budget lines

In order of
multiannual financial framework headings and budget lines.

Under shared management

Heading of multiannual financial framework || Budget line || Type of expenditure || Contribution

Number [Description………………………...……….] || Diff./non-diff ([49]) || from EFTA[50] countries || from candidate countries[51] || from third countries || within the meaning of Article 18(1)(aa) of the Financial Regulation

HEADING 2 Sustainable Growth – natural resources || 11.02: Fisheries markets 11.06: European Fisheries Fund (EFF) 11.07 01: Conservation, management and exploitation of living aquatic resources 11.08: Control and enforcement of the common fisheries policy || Diff. || NO || NO || NO || NO

Under direct management

Heading of multiannual financial framework || Budget line || Type of expenditure || Contribution

Number [Description………………………...……….] || Diff./non-diff ([52]) || from EFTA[53] countries || from candidate countries[54] || from third countries || within the meaning of Article 18(1)(aa) of the Financial Regulation

HEADING 2 Sustainable Growth – natural resources || 11.01: Administrative expenditure of the ‘Maritime affairs and fisheries’ policy area 11.02: Fisheries markets 11.03 03: Preparatory work for new international fisheries organisations and other non-compulsory contributions to international organisations 11.04: Governance of the common fisheries policy 11.06 11: European Fisheries Fund (EFF) Technical assistance 11.07 02: Conservation, management and exploitation of living aquatic resources 11.08: Control and enforcement of the common fisheries policy 11.09: Maritime policy || Diff. || NO || NO || NO || NO

3.2.        Estimated impact on
expenditure

3.2.1.     Summary of estimated impact
on expenditure

EUR million (to 3 decimal places)

Heading of multiannual financial framework: || Number 2 || Sustainable Growth – natural resources

DG: MARE || || || 2014 || 2015 || 2016 || 2017 || 2018 || 2019 || 2020 || 2021 || 2022 || 2023 or later || TOTAL

 Operational appropriations || || || || || || || || || || ||

Number of budget line Shared management || Commitments || (1) || 732 || 748 || 768 || 787 || 812 || 828 || 845 || || || || 5 520

Payments (indicative) || (2) || 220.8 || 441.6 || 662.4 || 662.4 || 662.4 || 662.4 || 662.4 || 662.4 || 607.2 || 276 || 5 520

Number of budget line Direct Management || Commitments || (1a) || 115 || 129 || 140 || 142 || 145 || 149 || 155 || || || || 975

Payments (indicative) || (2a) || 28.75 || 89.75 || 128.25 || 137.75 || 142.25 || 145.25 || 149.5 || 114.75 || 38.75 || || 975

Appropriations of an administrative nature financed from the envelope for specific programmes[55] TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE || || || || || || || || || || ||

Number of budget line 11 01 04 01 - 11 01 04 02 – 11 01 04 03 - 11 01 04 04 - 11 01 04 05 - 11 01 04 06 – 11 01 04 07 - 11 01 04 08 - 11 06 11 || || (3) || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 11 || 11 || || || || 72

TOTAL appropriations || Commitments || =1+1a +3 || 857 || 887 || 918 || 939 || 967 || 988 || 1 011 || || || || 6567

Payments (indicative) || =2+2a +3 || 259.55 || 541.35 || 800.65 || 810.15 || 814.65 || 818.65 || 822.9 || 777.15 || 645.95 || 276 || 6 567

 TOTAL operational appropriations || Commitments || (4) || 847 || 877 || 908 || 929 || 957 || 977 || 1000 || || || || 6 495

Payments (indicative) || (5) || 249.55 || 531.35 || 790.65 || 800.15 || 804.65 || 807.65 || 811.9 || 777.15 || 645.95 || 276 || 6 495

 TOTAL appropriations of an administrative nature financed from the envelope for specific programmes || (6) || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 11 || 11 || || || || 72

TOTAL appropriations for EMFF || Commitments || =4+ 6 || 857 || 887 || 918 || 939 || 967 || 988 || 1011 || || || || 6 567\*

Payments (indicative) || =5+ 6 || 259.99 || 541.35 || 800.65 || 810.15 || 814.65 || 818.65 || 822.9 || 777.15 || 645.95 || 276 || 6 567\*

\* In addition to the amount foreseen for
the EMFF, an envelope is foreseen to cover Sustainable Fisheries Agreements and
EU membership in International Organisations and Regional Fisheries Management
Organisations, which have their own individual basic acts. The envelope for
both actions amounts to EUR 968 million which is distributed in the following
manner:

2014 || 2015 || 2016 || 2017 || 2018 || 2019 || 2020 || TOTAL

146 || 141 || 136 || 136 || 136 || 137 || 136 || 968

Heading of multiannual financial framework: || 5 || " Administrative expenditure "

EUR million (to 3 decimal places)

|| || || Year 2014 || Year 2015 || Year 2016 || Year 2017 || Year 2018 || Year 2019 || Year 2020 || Year 2021 || Year 2022 ||  2023 or later || TOTAL

DG: MARE ||

 Human resources || 11.432 || 11.432 || 11.432 || 11.432 || 11.432 || 11.432 || 11.432 || || || || 80.024

 Other administrative expenditure || 3.260 || 3.260 || 3.260 || 3.260 || 3.260 || 3.260 || 3.260 || || || || 22.820

TOTAL DG MARE || Appropriations. || 14.692 || 14.692 || 14.692 || 14.692 || 14.692 || 14.692 || 14.692 || || || || 102.844

TOTAL appropriations under HEADING 5 of the multiannual financial framework || (Total commitments = Total payments) || 14.692 || 14.692 || 14.692 || 14.692 || 14.692 || 14.692 || 14.692 || || || || 102.844

EUR million (to 3 decimal places)

|| || || Year 2014 || Year 2015 || Year 2016 || Year 2017 || Year 2018 || Year 2019 || Year 2020 || Year 2021 || Year 2022 || 2023 or later || TOTAL

TOTAL appropriations under HEADINGS 1 to 5 of the multiannual financial framework || Commitments || 871,692 || 901,692 || 932,692 || 953,692 || 981,692 || 1 002,692 || 1 025,692 || || || || 6 669.844

Payments || 274.242 || 556.042 || 815.342 || 824.842 || 829.342 || 833.342 || 837.592 || 777.15 || 645.95 || 276 || 6 669.844

3.2.2.     Estimated impact on
operational appropriations

–
¨  The proposal/initiative does not require the use of operational
appropriations

–
¨  The proposal/initiative requires the use of operational
appropriations, as explained below:

While strategic priorities are set at the EU
level, common output indicators will be set with in cooperation with MS. The
quantified targets linked to these indicators will be known only when the
operational programmes submitted by the MS will be adopted by the Commission.
It is therefore not possible to indicate targets for outputs before 2013/2014.

Specific objective under shared management

Commitment appropriations in EUR million (to 3 decimal
places)

Indicate objectives and outputs ò || || || Year 2014 || Year 2015 || Year 2016 || Year 2017 || Year 2018 || Year 2019 || Year 2020 || TOTAL

OUTPUTS

Type of output[56] || Average cost of the output || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Total number of outputs || Total cost

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE .[57]… •               Support to innovation and knowledge transfer •               Enhancement of the competitiveness and viability of fisheries, small scale coastal fisheries in particular •               Development of new professional skills. •               Improved market organisation for fishery •               Support to innovation and knowledge transfer •               Enhancement of the competitiveness and viability of aquaculture enterprises, SMEs in particular •               Development of new professional skills •               Improved market organisation for aquaculture products •               Reduction of the impact of fisheries on the marine environment •               Protection and restoration of marine biodiversity and ecosystems, in the context of sustainable fishing •               Increased supply of scientific knowledge and collection of data for sustainable fisheries management •               Increased compliance through control •               Enhancement of ecosystems dependent on aquaculture and promotion of resource efficient aquaculture •               Reduction of the impact of aquaculture on the environment) •               Promotion of economic growth, social inclusion and creation of jobs in coastal and inland communities depending on fishing and aquaculture •               Diversification of fishing activities into other sectors of maritime economy and growth of maritime economy

- Output To be defined later || || || || 731 || || 746 || || 766 || || 785 || || 809 || || 826 || || 843 || || 5 506

Sub-total for specific objective || || 731 || || 746 || || 766 || || 785 || || 809 || || 826 || || 843 || || 5 506

TOTAL COST || || 731 || || 746 || || 766 || || 785 || || 809 || || 826 || || 843 || || 5 506

Specific objectives under direct management

Control

Indicate objectives and outputs ò || || || Year 2014 || Year 2015 || Year 2016 || Year 2017 || Year 2018 || Year 2019 || Year 2020 || TOTAL

OUTPUTS

Type of output[58] || Average cost of the output || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Total number of outputs || Total cost

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE [59]… || Increased compliance thorough control

To promote joint (i.e. multi-national) control vessels in a geographical area || Number of vessels purchased jointly by MS || 6.25 (80% of the total price of 7.812) || 4 || 25 || 2 || 12.5 || 4 || 25 || 2 || 12.5 || 2 || 12.5 || 2 || 12.5 || 2 || 12.5 || 18 || 112.5

To promote joint (i.e. multi-national) control vessels in a geographical area || Number of helicopters purchased jointly by MS || 12.5 (80% of the total price of 15.625) || || || 1 || 12.5 || || || 1 || 12.5 || 1 || 12.5 || || || || || 3 || 37.5

To promote joint (i.e. multi-national) control vessels in a geographical area || Number of aircrafts purchased jointly by MS || 13.5 (80% of the total price of 16.875) || || || || || || || || || || || 1 || 13.5 || 1 || 13.5 || 2 || 27

- Output || Number of inspections conducted jointly by MS || N/A || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || ||

Missions to ensure the implementation of the rules of the CFP || Number of inspections, audit and verification conducted by COM inspectors || 6.667 || 150 || 1 || 150 || 1 || 150 || 1 || 150 || 1 || 150 || 1 || 150 || 1 || 150 || 1 || 1050 || 7

Meetings if fisheries group experts group to ensure the implementation of the rules of the CFP || Number of fisheries group experts group meetings || 0.017 || 30 || 0.5 || 30 || 0.5 || 30 || 0.5 || 30 || 0.5 || 30 || 0.5 || 30 || 0.5 || 30 || 0.5 || 210 || 3.5

- Output || Developm. of IT applic. to support inspection and control || N/A || || 1.5 || || 1.5 || || 1.5 || || 1.5 || || 15 || || 1.5 || || 1.5 || || 10.5

Total for specific objective || || 28 || || 28 || || 28 || || 28 || || 28 || || 29 || || 29 || || 198

Fisheries
Market

Commitment appropriations in EUR million (to 3 decimal
places)

Indicate objectives and outputs ò || || || Year 2014 || Year 2015 || Year 2016 || Year 2017 || Year 2018 || Year 2019 || Year 2020 || TOTAL

OUTPUTS

Type of output[60] || Average cost of the output || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Total number of outputs || Total cost

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE To assist actors of the industry in developing more adequate production planning and marketing and public bodies in achieving a better understanding of market situation and leading relevant policy through continuous, reliable and easily accessible information on markets.[61]…

- Output || Information for policy-makers || 5 || || 5 || || 5 || || 5 || || 5 || || 5 || || 5 || || 5 || || 35

Sub-total for specific objective || || 5 || || 5 || || 5 || || 5 || || 5 || || 5 || || 5 || || 35

TOTAL COST || || 5 || || 5 || || 5 || || 5 || || 5 || || 5 || || 5 || || 35

Scientific Advice

Indicate objectives and outputs ò || || || Year 2014 || Year 2015 || Year 2016 || Year 2017 || Year 2018 || Year 2019 || Year 2020 || Total

OUTPUTS

Type of output[62] || Average cost of the output || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || || Total cost

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE Obtain advice based in science and economics as basis for proposals for regulation under the CFP and related actions by Member States || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || ||

Studies related to CFP || Research and advisory reports || || \* || 1.688 || \* || 1.739 || \* || 1.791 || \* || 1.845 || \* || 1.9 || \* || 1.957 || \* || 2.016 || \* || 12.936

Support to STECF meetings by JRC || logistic support || || 27 || 1.126 || 27 || 1.159 || 27 || 1.194 || 27 || 1.23 || 27 || 1.267 || 27 || 1.305 || 27 || 1.344 || 189 || 8.625

STECF operation || indemnities for experts || || \* || 1.013 || \* || 1.043 || \* || 1.075 || \* || 1.107 || \* || 1.14 || \* || 1.174 || \* || 1.21 || \* || 7.762

Advice for fish stocks and ecosystems || databases and expertise || || \* || 1.688 || \* || 1.739 || \* || 1.791 || \* || 1.845 || \* || 1.9 || \* || 1.957 || \* || 2.016 || \* || 12.936

Scientific Partnerships || study projects || || \* || 2.251 || \* || 2.319 || \* || 2.388 || \* || 2.46 || \* || 2.534 || \* || 2.61 || \* || 2.688 || \* || 17.25

Ecosystem and economic advice || advice reports || || \* || 1.234 || \* || 5.001 || \* || 4.761 || \* || 6.513 || \* || 6.259 || \* || 5.997 || \* || 6.726 || \* || 36.491

Sub-total for specific objective || || 9 || || 13 || || 13 || || 15 || || 15 || || 15 || || 16 || || 96

TOTAL COST || || 9 || || 13 || || 13 || || 15 || || 15 || || 15 || || 16 || || 96

Data Collection Regional, Studies &
Scientific Advice

Indicate objectives and outputs ò || || || Year 2014 || Year 2015 || Year 2016 || Year 2017 || Year 2018 || Year 2019 || Year 2020 || TOTAL

OUTPUTS

Type of output[63] || Average cost of the output || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Total number of outputs || Total cost

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE [64] Data Collection Regional Cooperation || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || ||

- Output || Regional Data bases || 0.5 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 14 || 7

- Output || Regional Coordination projects || 0.5 || 2 || 1 || 6 || 3 || 6 || 3 || 6 || 3 || 4 || 2 || 4 || 2 || 8 || 4 || 36 || 18

Sub-total for specific objective || 4 || 2 || 8 || 4 || 8 || 4 || 8 || 4 || 6 || 3 || 6 || 3 || 10 || 5 || 50 || 25

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE Studies || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || ||

- Output || Studies || 0.5 || 10 || 5 || 10 || 5 || 10 || 5 || 10 || 5 || 12 || 6 || 12 || 6 || 14 || 7 || 78 || 39

Sub-total for specific objective || 10 || 5 || 10 || 5 || 10 || 5 || 10 || 5 || 12 || 6 || 12 || 6 || 14 || 7 || 78 || 39

|| || || || || || || || || || || || || || || ||

TOTAL COST || || 7 || || 9 || || 9 || || 9 || || 9 || || 9 || || 12 || || 64

Governance

Indicate objectives and outputs ò || || || 2014 || 2015 || 2016 || 2017 || 2018 || 2019 || 2020 || TOTAL

OUTPUTS

Type of output[65] || Average cost of the output || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Total number of outputs || Total cost

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE [66]Governance of the CFP || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || ||

- Output: Advisory Councils || Services || 0.33 || 9 || 3 || 9 || 3 || 9 || 3 || 9 || 3 || 9 || 3 || 9 || 3 || 9 || 3 || 9 || 21

- Output: information, communication and Commission meetings with experts/stakeholders || Products || 0.1 || 40 || 4 || 40 || 4 || 50 || 5 || 50 || 5 || 50 || 5 || 60 || 6 || 60 || 6 || 350 || 35

|| || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || ||

Sub-total for specific objective || 49 || 7 || 49 || 7 || 59 || 8 || 59 || 8 || 59 || 8 || 69 || 9 || 69 || 9 || 359 || 56

TOTAL COST || 49 || 7 || 49 || 7 || 59 || 8 || 59 || 8 || 59 || 8 || 69 || 9 || 69 || 9 || 359 || 56

Integrated Maritime Policy

Indicate objectives and outputs || || || Year || Year || Year || Year || Year || Year || Year || TOTAL

|| 2014 || 2015 || 2016 || 2017 || 2018 || 2019 || 2020

ò || OUTPUTS

|| Type of output[1] || Average cost || Number || Cost || Number || Cost || Number || Cost || Number || Cost || Number || Cost || Number || Cost || Number || Cost || Total number of outputs || Total

|| of outputs || of outputs || of outputs || of outputs || of outputs || of outputs || of outputs || cost

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE No 1: Promote integrated maritime governance at local, regional, national, sea basin, EU and international level || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || ||

Output: actions supporting integrated approaches of maritime affairs in Member States and in European sea basins || ||  3,01 || ||  3,33 || ||  3,93 || ||  3,93 || ||  4,06 || ||  4,06 || ||  4,25 || ||  26,57

Output: umber of bilateral and regional framework, and meetings with key partners, improving international collaboration on maritime affairs || ||  0,16 || ||  0,17 || ||  0,21 || ||  0,21 || ||  0,21 || ||  0,21 || ||  0,22 || ||  1,39

Sub-total for specific objective N°1 || ||  3,17 || ||  3,50 || ||  4,14 || ||  4,14 || ||  4,27 || ||  4,27 || ||  4,47 || ||  27,96

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE No 2: Develop cross-sectoral actions that are mutually beneficial to different maritime sectors and/or sectoral policies || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || ||

Output: Actions supporting the implementation of Maritime Spatial Planning in Member States and across European sea basins || ||  1,76 || ||  2,50 || ||  3,99 || ||  3,99 || ||  4,28 || ||  4,28 || ||  4,73 || ||  25,53

Output: Number of surveillance data sets exchanged between sectors || ||  11,34 || ||  12,50 || ||  14,81 || ||  14,81 || ||  15,28 || ||  15,28 || ||  15,98 || ||  100,00

Output: Number of downloads of data assembled through European Marine Observation and Data Network || ||  23,82 || ||  26,25 || ||  31,11 || ||  31,11 || ||  32,09 || ||  32,09 || ||  33,54 || ||  210,01

Sub-total for specific objective N°2 || ||  36,92 || ||  41,25 || ||  49,91 || ||  49,91 || ||  51,65 || ||  51,65 || ||  54,25 || ||  335,54

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE No 3: Support sustainable growth, employment and innovation in maritime sectors. || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || ||

Output : number of selected project with direct innovation support. || ||  2,27 || ||  2,51 || ||  2,96 || ||  2,96 || ||  3,05 || ||  3,05 || ||  3,20 || ||  20,00

Output: number of Awareness and dissemination actions on EU, national and regional level; || ||  1,13 || ||  1,25 || ||  1,48 || ||  1,48 || ||  1,53 || ||  1,53 || ||  1,60 || ||  10,00

Sub-total for specific objective N°3 || ||  3,40 || ||  3,76 || ||  4,44 || ||  4,44 || ||  4,58 || ||  4,58 || ||  4,80 || ||  30,00

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE No 4: Protection of the marine environment and sustainable use of the marine and coastal resources. || || || || || || || || || || || || ||

Output: Actions supporting the implementation of Marine Strategy Framework Directive. || || ||  5,50 || ||  5,50 || ||  5,50 || ||  5,50 || ||  5,50 || ||  5,50 || ||  5,50 || ||  38,50

TOTAL COST || ||  49 || || 54 || || 64 || || 64 || || 66 || || 66 || || 69 || || 432

Regional Fisheries Management
Organisation (RFMO) - voluntary

Indicate objectives and outputs ò || || || Year 2014 || Year 2015 || Year 2016 || Year 2017 || Year 2018 || Year 2019 || Year 2020 || TOTAL

OUTPUTS

Type of output[67] || Average cost of the output || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Number of outputs || Cost || Total number of outputs || Total cost

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE[68]… || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || ||

- Output || Preparatory work for new international fisheries organisations and other non-compulsory contributions to international organisations || || 18 || 10 || 18 || 13 || 18 || 13 || 18 || 13 || 18 || 14 || 18 || 16 || 18 || 15 || 126 || 94

TOTAL COST || 18 || 10 || 18 || 13 || 18 || 13 || 18 || 13 || 18 || 14 || 18 || 16 || 18 || 15 || 126 || 94

3.2.3.     Estimated impact on
appropriations of an administrative nature

3.2.3.1.  Summary

–
¨  The proposal/initiative does not require the use of administrative
appropriations

–
¨  The proposal/initiative requires the use of administrative
appropriations, as explained below:

EUR million (to 3
decimal places)

|| Year 2014 || Year 2015 || Year 2016 || Year 2017 || Year 2018 || Year 2019 || Year 2020 || TOTAL

HEADING 5 of the multiannual financial framework || || || || || || || ||

Human resources || 11.432 || 11.432 || 11.432 || 11.432 || 11.432 || 11.432 || 11.432 || 80.024

Other administrative expenditure || 3.260 || 3.260 || 3.260 || 3.260 || 3.260 || 3.260 || 3.260 || 22.820

Subtotal HEADING 5 of the multiannual financial framework || 14.692 || 14.692 || 14.692 || 14.692 || 14.692 || 14.692 || 14.692 || 102.844

Outside HEADING 5[69] of the multiannual financial framework || || || || || || || ||

Human resources || 1.724 || 1.724 || 1.724 || 1.724 || 1.724 || 1.724 || 1.724 || 12.068

Other expenditure of an administrative nature || 8.276 || 8.276 || 8.276 || 8.276 || 8.276 || 9.276 || 9.276 || 59.932

Subtotal outside HEADING 5 of the multiannual financial framework || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 11 || 11 || 72

TOTAL || 24.692 || 24.692 || 24.692 || 24.692 || 24.692 || 25.692 || 25.692 || 174.844

 Estimated requirements of human resources

–
¨  The proposal/initiative does not require the use of human
resources

–
¨  The proposal/initiative requires the use of human resources, as
explained below:

Estimate to be expressed in full amounts
(or at most to one decimal place)

|| Year 2014 || Year 2015 || Year 2016 || Year 2017 || Year 2018 || Year 2019 || Year 2020

 Establishment plan posts (officials and temporary agents) ||

11 01 01 01 (Headquarters and Commission’s Representation Offices) || 82 || 82 || 82 || 82 || 82 || 82 || 82

XX 01 01 02 (Delegations) || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1

XX 01 05 01 (Indirect research) || || || || || || ||

10 01 05 01 (Direct research) || || || || || || ||

 External personnel (in Full Time Equivalent unit: FTE)[70] ||

11 01 02 01 (CA, INT, SNE from the "global envelope") || 12 || 12 || 12 || 12 || 12 || 12 || 12

XX 01 02 02 (CA, INT, JED, LA and SNE in the delegations) || || || || || || ||

11 01 04 || - at Headquarters[71] || 16 || 16 || 16 || 16 || 16 || 16 || 16

- in delegations || 7 || 7 || 7 || 7 || 7 || 7 || 7

XX 01 05 02 (CA, INT, SNE - Indirect research) || || || || || || ||

10 01 05 02 (CA, INT, SNE - Direct research) || || || || || || ||

Other budget lines (specify) || || || || || || ||

TOTAL || 118 || 118 || 118 || 118 || 118 || 118 || 118

XX is the
policy area or budget title concerned.

The human resources required
will be met by staff from the DG who are already assigned to management of the action
and/or have been redeployed within the DG, together if necessary with any
additional allocation which may be granted to the managing DG under the annual
allocation procedure and in the light of budgetary constraints.

Description of
tasks to be carried out:

Officials and temporary agents ||

External personnel ||

3.2.4.     Compatibility with the
current multiannual financial framework

–
¨  Proposal/initiative is compatible the next multiannual
financial framework.

–
¨  Proposal/initiative will entail reprogramming of the relevant
heading in the multiannual financial framework.

Explain what reprogramming is required,
specifying the budget lines concerned and the corresponding amounts.

–
¨  Proposal/initiative requires application of the flexibility
instrument or revision of the multiannual financial framework[72].

Explain what is required, specifying the
headings and budget lines concerned and the corresponding amounts.

3.2.5.     Third-party contributions under
shared management

–
The proposal/initiative does not provide for
co-financing by third parties

–
¨ The proposal provides that European funding needs to be co-financed
by Member States. The exact amount cannot be quantified until adoption of the
operational programmes:

Appropriations in EUR million (to 3 decimal places)

|| Year N || Year N+1 || Year N+2 || Year N+3 || … enter as many years as necessary to show the duration of the impact (see point 1.6) || Total

Specify the co-financing body || || || || || || || ||

TOTAL appropriations cofinanced || || || || || || || ||

3.3.        Estimated impact on
revenue

–
¨  Proposal/initiative has no financial impact on revenue.

–
¨  Proposal/initiative has the following financial impact:

–
¨         on own resources

–
¨         on miscellaneous revenue

EUR million (to 3 decimal places)

Budget revenue line: || Appropriations available for the ongoing budget year || Impact of the proposal/initiative[73]

Year N || Year N+1 || Year N+2 || Year N+3 || … insert as many columns as necessary in order to reflect the duration of the impact (see point 1.6)

Article …………. || || || || || || || ||

For miscellaneous
assigned revenue, specify the budget expenditure line(s) affected.

Specify the method for
calculating the impact on revenue.

[1]               OJ C , , p. .

[2]               OJ C , , p. .

[3]               OJ L223, 15.8.2006, p.1

[4]               OJ L 160, 14.6.2006, p.1.

[5]               OJ L209, 11.8.2005, p.1.

[6]               OJ L176, 6.7.2007, p 1.

[7]               COM(2010) 2020 final, 3.3.2010.

[8]           OJ L 164,
25.6.2008, p. 19

[9]               OJ L286, 29.10.2008, p.1.

[10]             OJ L 343, 22.12.2009, p. 1.

[11]             COM(2011) 615 final.

[12]             COM(2002) 511 final.

[13]             OJ L[..], […],p.;

[14]             OJ L 176, 6.7.2007, p. 1.

[15]             COM(2007)575 final of 10.10.2007.

[16]             General Affairs Council conclusions of 14 June 2010, EP
resolution of 21 October 2010 on Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) – Evaluation
of progress made and new challenges; opinion of the Committee of the Regions on
'The development of an Integrated Maritime Policy and Marine Knowledge 2020'.

[17]             OJ L[..], […], p.

[18]             COM(2009)163 final of 22.4.2009.

[19]             Judgment of the Court of 9.11.2010, Joined Cases
C-92/09 and C-93/09, Schecke.

[20]             OJ L55, 28.2.2011, p.13.

[21]             COM(2011) 425 final.

[22]             COM(2011) 615 final.

[23]             O.J. L 148 of 6.6.2002

[24]             OJ L 5, 9.1.2004, p.25.

[25]             OJ L, P..

[26]             OJ L[..], [...],P.

[27]             OJ L 206 , 22.7.1992 p.7.

[28]             OJ L 20, 26.1.2010, p. 7.

[29]             OJ L 189, 20.7.2007, p. 1

[30]             OJ L 204, 6.8.2009, p. 15

[31]             OJ L 114, 24.4.2001, p. 1

[32]             OJ L 154, 21.6.2003, p. 1

[33]             OJ L 93, 31.3.2006, p. 12; OJ L 335M , 13.12.2008, p. 213
(MT).

[34]             OJ L 343, 22.12.2009, p. 1

[35]             OJ L 292, 15.11.1996, p. 2

[36]             OJ L 303 , 02.12.2000, p.16

[37]             OJ L 180 , 19.07.2000, p.22

[38]             OJ L 134, 30.4.2004, p. 1

[39]             OJ L 175, 5.7.1985, p. 40

[40]             OJ L 197, 21.7.2001, p. 30

[41]             OJ L 5, 9.1.2004, p.25.

[42]             ABM: Activity-Based Management – ABB: Activity-Based
Budgeting.

[43]             As referred to in Article 49(6)(a) or (b) of the
Financial Regulation.

[44]             Details of management modes and references to the
Financial Regulation may be found on the BudgWeb site: http://www.cc.cec/budg/man/budgmanag/budgmanag\_en.html

[45]             As referred to in Article 185 of the Financial
Regulation.

[46]             Study "Regional
governance in the context of globalisation: reviewing governance mechanisms
& administrative costs. Administrative workload and costs for Member
State public authorities of the implementation of ERDF and Cohesion Fund",
2010

[47]             With the exception of data collection and control
measures

[48]             Exceptions clearly identified and justified in policy
terms (small scale fisheries, collective actions, remote Greek islands,
outermost regions).

[49]             Diff. = Differentiated appropriations / Non-Diff. =
Non-differentiated appropriations

[50]             EFTA: European Free Trade Association.

[51]             Candidate countries and, where applicable, potential
candidate countries from the Western Balkans.

[52]             Diff. = Differentiated appropriations / Non-Diff. =
Non-differentiated appropriations

[53]             EFTA: European Free Trade Association.

[54]             Candidate countries and, where applicable, potential
candidate countries from the Western Balkans.

[55]             Technical and/or administrative assistance and
expenditure in support of the implementation of EU programmes and/or actions
(former "BA" lines), indirect research, direct research.

[56]             Outputs are products and services to be supplied (e.g.:
number of student exchanges financed, number of km of roads built, etc.).

[57]             As described in Section 1.4.2. "Specific
objective(s)…"

[58]             Outputs are products and services to be supplied (e.g.:
number of student exchanges financed, number of km of roads built, etc.).

[59]             As described in Section 1.4.2. "Specific
objective(s)…"

[60]             Outputs are products and services to be supplied (e.g.:
number of student exchanges financed, number of km of roads built, etc.).

[61]             As described in Section 1.4.2. "Specific
objective(s)…"

[62]             Outputs are products and services to be supplied (e.g.:
number of student exchanges financed, number of km of roads built, etc.).

[63]             Outputs are products and services to be supplied (e.g.:
number of student exchanges financed, number of km of roads built, etc.).

[64]             As described in Section 1.4.2. "Specific
objective(s)…"

[65]             Outputs are products and services to be supplied (e.g.:
number of student exchanges financed, number of km of roads built, etc.).

[66]             As described in Section 1.4.2. "Specific
objective(s)…"

[67]             Outputs are products and services to be supplied (e.g.:
number of student exchanges financed, number of km of roads built, etc.).

[68]             As described in Section 1.4.2. "Specific
objective(s)…"

[69]             Technical and/or administrative assistance and
expenditure in support of the implementation of EU programmes and/or actions
(former "BA" lines), indirect research, direct research.

[70]             CA= Contract Agent; INT= agency staff ("Intérimaire");
JED= "Jeune Expert en Délégation" (Young Experts in
Delegations); LA= Local Agent; SNE= Seconded National Expert;

[71]             Essentially for Structural Funds, European Agricultural
Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and European Fisheries Fund (EFF).

[72]             See points 19 and 24 of the Interinstitutional
Agreement.

[73]             As regards traditional own resources (customs duties,
sugar levies), the amounts indicated must be net amounts, i.e. gross amounts
after deduction of 25% for collection costs.

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