CELEX: 52005PC0566
Language: en
Date: 2005-11-11
Title: Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the submission of data on landings of fishery products in Member States

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                                  Brussels, 11.11.2005
                                                  COM(2005) 566 final
                                                  2005/0223 (COD)
                                     Proposal for a
   REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
     on the submission of data on landings of fishery products in Member States
                            (presented by the Commission)
EN                                                                              EN
 ---pagebreak---                                EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
       1) CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL
          •
   110
              Grounds for and objectives of the proposal
          The current community legislation based on Council Regulation (EEC) No 1382/91 on
          the submission of data on the landings of fishery products in Member States requires
          the Member States to submit to the Commission monthly data on the quantity and
          value of landings of fishery products in their ports. An analysis of the methods of
          collecting and compiling the data by the national authorities and of the uses made of
          such data by the Commission's services have revealed that improvements can be made
          which would reduce the workload on the Member States and improve the usefulness of
          the data.
          •
   120
              General context
          The community legislation on fishery statistics was designed to provide a total national
          coverage of harmonised monthly data on the landings of fishery products to
          supplement the data submissions on a more limited range of products in selected ports
          under Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 on the common organisation of the
          market in fishery and aquaculture products.
          •
   130
              Existing provisions in the area of the proposal
          The proposal is designed to improve and replace the existing community legislation
          and Council Regulation (EEC) No 1382/91 should therefore be repealed.
          •
   141
              Consistency with the other policies and objectives of the Union
          Not applicable.
       2) CONSULTATION OF INTERESTED PARTIES AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT
          •   Consultation of interested parties
   211
          Consultation methods, main sectors targeted and general profile of respondents
          The national fishery statisticians were presented with, and discussed, a working paper
          containing the technical elements of the current proposal.
   212
          Summary of responses and how they have been taken into account
          Subject to minor editorial changes, the working paper was unanimously approved by
          the national fishery statisticians.
          •   Collection and use of expertise
   221
          Scientific/expertise domains concerned
          The national representatives in the meeting of Eurostat's Working Group "Fishery
          Statistics" were experts with knowledge of the existing legislation and with expertise in
EN                                                2                                                 EN
 ---pagebreak---            the national systems of collecting and compiling fishery statistics.
   222
           Methodology used
           Open discussion between the experts in the meetings of the Working Group "Fishery
           Statistics"
   223
           Main organisations/experts consulted
           The experts were from the national fishery ministries and/or the national statistical
           institutes.
   2249
           Summary of advice received and used
           The existence of potentially serious risks with irreversible consequences has not been
           mentioned.
   225
           Since the current proposal is a simplification of the existing legislation no risks were
           identified.
   226
           Means used to make the expert advice publicly available
           The results of the experts' discussions were included in the minutes of the meeting of
           the Working Group "Fishery Statistics".
           •
   230
               Impact assessment
           Since the current proposal is a simplification of the existing legislation an impact
           assessment was considered unnecessary.
           As the proposal is a modification and simplification of existing legislation no
           information campaign of financial incentives is considered appropriate.
        3) LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL
           •
   305
               Summary of the proposed action
           The objective of this Regulation shall be to provide for the submission by the Member
           States of harmonised data on the quantity and value of landings on their territories to
           permit analyses of the market for fishery products and more general economic analyses
           of the situation in fisheries. The Regulation differs from the existing legislation in three
           main respects. Firstly, the submissions are to be of annual data as opposed to monthly
           data. Monthly data submitted up to six months after the reference month were found to
           be of limited use for the day-to-day management of the market while annual data are
           useful for medium- to long-term analyses of the market and reduce the workload of the
           national authorities in the submission of the data. Secondly, the submissions are to be
           required by the flag (or nationality) of the vessels responsible for the landings. This
           requirement, as opposed to the current submissions by the broad groups of EU vessels,
           of EFTA vessels and of other vessels, will permit more detailed analyses of the data
           and yet not significantly increase the workload on the national authorities who already
           collect the data in this detail. Lastly, in circumstances where the structural
           characteristics of the fisheries sector would result in difficulties for the national
EN                                                  3                                                   EN
 ---pagebreak---        authorities incommensurate with the importance of the sector, the Regulation permits a
       more flexible approach to the use of sampling techniques for the estimation of the total
       landings. Subject to a justification for their use and an analysis of the quality of the
       resultant data in a methodological report, the national authorities will be able to employ
       an appropriate level of sampling techniques for the collection of the data.
       •
   310
           Legal basis
       Article 285 provides the legal basis for Community statistics. The Council, acting in
       accordance with the codecision procedure, shall adopt measures for the production of
       statistics where necessary for the performance of the activities of the Community. This
       Article sets out requirements relating to the production of Community statistics and
       requires conformity to standards of impartiality, reliability, objectivity, scientific
       independence, cost-effectiveness and statistical confidentiality.
       •
   320
           Subsidiarity principle
       The subsidiarity principle applies insofar as the proposal does not fall under the
       exclusive competence of the Community.
       The objectives of the proposal cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States
       for the following reason(s).
   321
       Action by the Member States alone will be insufficient to ensure the availability of
       comparable statistics required for the development and monitoring of fair and effective
       Community policies on the common organisation of the markets in fishery and
       aquaculture products. The increasing importance of this sector means that reliable and
       comparable statistics are needed by the Member States. Action by the Member States
       alone, without coordination and harmonisation at Union level, will be an inefficient
       and ineffective approach to meeting this need. In accordance with the principle of
       subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the EC Treaty, the objective of the proposed
       action, namely the systematic submission of data on the landing of fishery products for
       the production of harmonised Community statistics, cannot be sufficiently achieved by
       the Member States acting individually and can therefore be better achieved by the
       Community.
   323
       Experience has shown that Member States collect data on the quantities and values of
       landings but use a variety of concepts and definitions which result in the non-
       comparability of the data at the EU level and thus seriously reduce their usefulness in
       the management of the market for fishery products.
       Community action will better achieve the objectives of the proposal for the following
       reason(s).
   324
       The Regulation provides for the coordination and harmonisation of data at the EU level
       and the submission by the national authorities of reports on the methodology used in
       the collection and compilation of the data. These reports shall be subject to a review of
       the content and quality of the submitted data by the Working Group "Fishery Statistics"
       of the Standing Committee on Agricultural Statistics. Subject to the acceptance of these
       methodological reports, the national authorities shall be permitted to use such
       techniques in the collection of the data as are appropriate to the structure of fisheries on
EN                                              4                                                   EN
 ---pagebreak---        their territory.
   325
       Although the Commission is best able to organise the collection of Community
       statistics, the Member States are competent in the organisation and operation of the
       national statistical systems. Council Regulation (EC) 322/97 of 17 February 1997 on
       Community statistics provides that Community statistics shall be governed by inter alia
       the principles of impartiality and statistical confidentiality. Impartiality implies the
       availability of statistics, with a minimum delay, to all users. It is conditioned by the
       obligation that data used by the national authorities and the Commission for the
       production of Community statistics be considered confidential when they allow
       statistical units to be identified, either directly or indirectly, thereby disclosing
       individual information. The national authorities are required to submit methodological
       reports which are reviewed by the Working Group "Fishery Statistics" to assess the
       quality of the national systems for the collection and compilation of the data.
   327
       The analysis of the Community market for fishery products has to be undertaken at the
       EU level using harmonised and comparable national data.
       The proposal therefore complies with the subsidiarity principle.
       •    Proportionality principle
       The proposal complies with the proportionality principle for the following reason(s).
   331
       It is recognised that there are wide variations in the structures of the fisheries in the
       Member States and consequently that there are differences in the tasks of the national
       authorities in collecting and compiling the data on the volume and value of landings of
       fishery products. Accordingly the national authorities may employ such techniques for
       the collection of data that are appropriate to the structure of the fisheries and are
       commensurate with the importance of the sector. In accordance with the principle of
       proportionality this Regulation confines itself to the minimum required to achieve this
       objective and does not go beyond what is necessary for that purpose.
   332
       The financial and administrative burden on the national authorities will be no greater
       than that of the existing legislation. Indeed the requirement for annual rather than
       monthly data submissions and the possibility of an increased use of sampling
       techniques should reduce this burden.
       •    Choice of instruments
   341
       Proposed instruments: Regulation.
   342
       Other means would not be adequate for the following reason(s).
       Selection of the appropriate category for an act of the EP/Council depends on the
       legislative goal. Given the information needs at European level, the trend for
       Community statistics has been to use Regulations rather than Directives for basic acts.
       Regulation is preferable because it lays down the same law throughout the Community,
       leaving the Member States with no power to apply them incompletely or selectively; it
       is directly applicable, which means that it needs not be transposed into national law. In
       contrast, directives, which aim at harmonisation of national laws, are binding on
EN                                              5                                                EN
 ---pagebreak---           Member States as regards their objectives, but leave the national authorities the choice
          of form and methods used to obtain the objectives agreed upon at the Community
          level; they must be transposed into national law. The use of a Regulation is in line with
          other statistical legal acts which have been adopted since 1997.
       4) BUDGETARY IMPLICATION
   409
          The proposal has no implication for the Community budget.
       5) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
          •   Simulation, pilot phase and transitory period
   507
          There was or there will be a transitory period for the proposal.
          •
   510
              Simplification
   511
          The proposal provides for simplification of legislation.
   512
          The current community legislation requires the Member States to submit to the
          Commission monthly data on the quantity and value of landings of fishery products in
          their ports. An analysis of the methods of collecting and compiling the data by the
          national authorities and of the uses made of such data by the Commission's services
          have revealed that improvements can be made which would reduce the workload on the
          Member States and improve the usefulness of the data. The Regulation differs from the
          existing legislation. Firstly, the submissions are to be of annual data as opposed to
          monthly data. Secondly, the submissions are to be required by the flag (or nationality)
          of the vessels responsible for the landings. This requirement, as opposed to the current
          submissions by the broad groups of EU vessels, of EFTA vessels and of other vessels,
          will permit more detailed analyses of the data and yet not significantly increase the
          workload on the national authorities who already collect the data in this detail. Lastly,
          the proposed Regulation permits a more flexible approach to the use of sampling
          techniques for the estimation of the total landings.
   517
          The proposal is included in the Commission's Work and Legislative Programme under
          the reference 2004/ESTAT/010.
          •
   520
              Repeal of existing legislation
          The adoption of the proposal will lead to the repeal of existing legislation.
          •
   560
              European Economic Area
          The proposed act concerns an EEA matter and should therefore extend to the European
          Economic Area.
EN                                                 6                                                EN
 ---pagebreak---                                                                2005/0223 (COD)
                                                Proposal for a
       REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
          on the submission of data on landings of fishery products in Member States
                                        (Text with EEA relevance)
   THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
   Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular
   Article 285(1) thereof,
   Having regard to the proposal from the Commission1,
   Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty2,
   Whereas:
   (1)     Council Regulation (EEC) No 1382/91 of 21 May 1991 on the submission of data on
           the landings of fishery products in Member States3 requires Member States to submit
           data on the quantities and average prices of fishery products landed on their territory.
   (2)     Experience has shown that analyses of the market for fishery products and other
           economic analyses would not be adversely affected if data were submitted under
           Community legislation at yearly rather than monthly intervals.
   (3)     Analyses would be enhanced if data were broken down by the flag state of vessels
           carrying out landings.
   (4)     Regulation (EEC) No 1382/91 imposes a limit on sampling permitted when collecting
           and compiling data that places an excessive burden on certain national authorities. In
           order to improve the system and to make it simpler, Regulation (EEC) No 1382/91
           should be replaced by this Regulation.
   (5)     Since the objective of the planned action, namely the establishment of a common legal
           framework for the systematic production of Community statistics of data on landings
           of fishery products in Member States, cannot be sufficiently achieved at national level
           and can be better achieved at Community level, the Community may adopt measures
   1
           OJ C [..] , [..], p. [..].
   2
           OJ C [..] , [..], p. [..].
   3
           OJ L 133, 28.5.1991, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003 of the
           European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 284, 31.10.2003, p. 1
EN                                                      7                                               EN
 ---pagebreak---           in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In
          accordance with the principle of proportionality as set out in that Article, this
          Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve that objective.
   (6)    Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 of 17 February 1997 on Community statistics4
          provides a reference framework for statistics in the field of fisheries. In particular it
          requires conformity with standards of impartiality, reliability, objectivity, scientific
          independence, cost-effectiveness and statistical confidentiality.
   (7)    It is important to ensure the uniform application of this Regulation and, in order to do
          so, to make provision for a Community procedure to help determine the implementing
          arrangements within an appropriate timescale and to make the necessary technical
          adaptations.
   (8)    The measures necessary for the implementation of this Regulation should be adopted
          in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the
          procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission5,
   HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
                                                  Article 1
                                                 Definitions
   For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:
   (1)      “Community vessels” means vessels flying the flag of, or registered in, a Community
            Member State.
   (2)      “EFTA vessels” means vessels flying the flag of, or registered in, an EFTA country;
   (3)      “Unit value” means:
            (a)    the value at first sale in national currency per tonne, or
            (b)    for products not immediately sold, the average price per tonne in national
                   currency, estimated using an appropriate method.
                                                  Article 2
                                      Obligations of the Member States
   1.       Each year each Member State shall submit to the Commission statistics of the fishery
            products landed on its territory by Community and EFTA vessels (“the statistical
            data”).
   2.       For the purposes of this Regulation, the following fishery products are deemed to be
            landed on the territory of the reporting Member State:
   4
           OJ L 52, 22.2.1997, p.1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003 (OJ L 284,
           31.10.2003, p.1).
   5
           OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23
EN                                                    8                                              EN
 ---pagebreak---             (a)    products landed by fishing vessels or other parts of the fishing fleet in national
                   ports;
            (b)    products landed by vessels of the reporting Member State in non-Community
                   ports and covered by the T2M form annexed to Commission Regulation (EEC)
                   No 2454/93 of 2 July 1993 laying down provisions for the implementation of
                   Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs
                   Code
                                                  Article 3
                                         Compilation of statistics
   1.       The statistical data shall cover total landings on national territory
   2.       Sampling techniques may be employed in those circumstances where, owing to the
            structural characteristics of a particular sector of the fisheries of a Member State,
            comprehensive data collection would result in difficulties for the national authorities
            incommensurate with the importance of that sector.
                                                  Article 4
                                                   Data
   The statistical data shall relate to the total quantities and unit values of the products landed in
   the reference calendar year.
   The variables for which statistical data need to be submitted, their definitions and the relevant
   nomenclatures are given in Annexes II, III and IV.
                                                  Article 5
                                      Submission of statistical data
   The Member States shall submit the statistical data to the Commission on an annual basis in
   accordance with the format specified in Annex I and using the codes set out in Annexes II, III
   and IV.
   The statistical data shall be submitted within six months of the end of the reference year.
                                                  Article 6
                                               Methodology
   1.       Within 12 months of the entry into force of this Regulation, each Member State shall
            submit a detailed methodological report to the Commission describing how the data
            have been collected and the statistics compiled. That report shall include details of
            any sampling techniques and an evaluation of the quality of the resulting estimates.
   2.       The Commission shall examine the reports and present its conclusions to the relevant
            working group of the Standing Committee for Agricultural Statistics.
EN                                                    9                                                EN
 ---pagebreak---    3.       The Member States shall inform the Commission of any change in the information
            provided for under paragraph 1 within three months of its introduction. They shall
            also forward details of any substantial changes in the collection methods used to the
            Commission.
                                                Article 7
                                         Transitional period
   Transitional periods for the implementation of this Regulation lasting not more than three
   years from the date of its entry into force may be granted to Member States in accordance
   with the procedure laid down in Article 9(2).
                                                Article 8
                                              Derogations
   1.       In cases where the inclusion in the statistics of a particular sector of the fisheries
            industry of a Member State would cause difficulties to the national authorities
            incommensurate with the importance of that sector, a derogation may be granted in
            accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 9(2), permitting that Member
            State to exclude data covering that sector from the national data submitted.
   2.       Member States shall support any requests for derogations by sending the
            Commission a report on problems encountered in applying this Regulation to total
            landings on its territory.
                                                Article 9
                                        Committee procedure
   1.       The Commission shall be assisted by the Standing Committee for Agricultural
            Statistics established by Article 1 of Council Decision 72/279/EEC6.
   2.       Where reference is made to this paragraph, the management procedure laid down in
            Articles 4 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the
            provisions of Article 8 thereof.
            The period laid down in Article 4(3) of that Decision shall be three months.
   3.       The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.
                                               Article 10
                                                 Repeal
   Regulation (EEC) No 1382/91 is hereby repealed.
   6
           OJ L 179, 7.8.1972, p. 1.
EN                                                 10                                              EN
 ---pagebreak---                                                Article 11
                                           Entry into force
   This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth 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
EN                                                 11                                               EN
 ---pagebreak---                                                 ANNEX I
                                       Format of data submitted
   Data file format
   The data are to be submitted in a file in which each record includes the fields indicated below.
   These fields are to be separated by a comma (“,”).
                          Field                              Note                  Annex
            Reference year                     4 digits (e.g. 2003)
            Reporting country                  Alpha-3 code                    Annex II
            Species or species group           International alpha-3 code*     -
            Flag State                         Alpha-3                         Annex II
            Presentation                                                       Annex III
            Intended use                                                       Annex IV
            Quantity                           Tonnes landed (rounded to
                                               one decimal place)
            Unit value                         National currency per tonne
   *        The full list of international alpha-3 species codes is to be found in FAO’s ASFIS file
            (http://www.fao.org/fi/statist/fisoft/asfis/asfis.asp)
   Quantities of less than 50 kg landed weight are to be recorded as “0.0”
   The technical adaptation of the contents of this Annex shall be laid down in accordance with
   the procedure laid down in Article 9(2).
EN                                                  12                                              EN
 ---pagebreak---                      ANNEX II
               List of country codes
             Country                 Code
   Austria                           AUT
   Belgium                           BEL
   Cyprus                            CYP
   Czech Republic                    CZE
   Germany                           DEU
   Denmark                           DNK
   Spain                             ESP
   Estonia                           EST
   Finland                           FIN
   France                            FRA
   United Kingdom                    GBR
   Greece                            GRC
   Hungary                           HUN
   Ireland                           IRL
   Italy                             ITA
   Lithuania                         LTU
   Latvia                            LVA
   Luxembourg                        LUX
   Malta                             MLT
   Netherlands                       NLD
   Poland                            POL
   Portugal                          PRT
   Slovak Republic                   SVK
EN                       13               EN
 ---pagebreak---                           Slovenia                             SVN
                          Sweden                              SWE
                          Iceland                              ISL
                          Norway                              NOR
                          Other                                OTH
   The technical adaptation of the contents of this Annex shall be laid down in accordance with
   the procedure laid down in Article 9(2).
EN                                               14                                             EN
 ---pagebreak---                    ANNEX III
          List of presentation codes
                     Part A
                      List
              Presentation           Code
   Fresh (not specified)              10
   Fresh (whole)                      11
   Fresh (gutted)                     12
   Fresh (tails)                      13
   Fresh (fillets)                    14
   Fresh (gutted and headed)          16
   Fresh (skinned and dried)          17
   Fresh (live)                       18
   Fresh (other)                      19
   Frozen (not specified)             20
   Frozen (whole)                     21
   Frozen (gutted)                    22
   Frozen (tails)                     23
   Frozen (fillets)                   24
   Frozen (not filleted)              25
   Frozen (gutted and headed)         26
   Frozen (cleaned)                   27
   Frozen (not cleaned)               28
   Frozen (other)                     29
   Salted (not specified)             30
   Salted (whole)                     31
   Salted (gutted)                    32
EN                     15                 EN
 ---pagebreak---                          Salted (fillets)                        34
                         Salted (gutted and headed)              36
                         Salted (other)                          39
                         Smoked                                  40
                         Cooked                                  50
                         Cooked (frozen and packaged)            60
                         Dried (not specified)                   70
                         Dried (whole)                           71
                         Dried (gutted)                          72
                         Dried (fillets)                         74
                         Dried (gutted and headed)               76
                         Dried (other)                           79
                         Whole (not specified)                   91
                         Claws                                   80
                         Eggs                                    85
                         Presentation unknown                    99
                                           Part B
                                            Notes
   1. Fillets: This term refers to strips of flesh cut parallel to the backbone of the fish and
      consisting of the right or left side of the fish, provided that the head, viscera, fins
      (dorsal, anal, caudal, ventral, pectoral) and bones (vertebrae or large backbone,
      ventral or costal, bronchial or stirrup bones, etc.) have been removed and the two
      sides are not connected, for example by the back or stomach.
   2. Whole fish: Refers to ungutted fish.
   3. Cleaned: Refers to squid where the arms, head and internal organs have been
      removed from the body.
   4. Frozen fish: Fish that have been subjected to freezing in a manner to preserve the
      inherent quality of the fish by reducing the average temperature to -18 ° C or lower
      and which are then kept at a temperature of -18 ° C or lower.
   5. Fresh fish: Fish that have not been preserved, cured, frozen or otherwise treated other
      than chilled. They are generally presented whole or gutted.
EN                                            16                                                EN
 ---pagebreak---    6.       Salted fish: Fish often in gutted and headed form, preserved in salt or brine.
   The technical adaptation of the contents of this Annex shall be laid down in accordance with
   the procedure laid down in Article 9(2).
EN                                                 17                                           EN
 ---pagebreak---                                              ANNEX IV
                             List of codes for intended use of products
                                                Part A
                                                 List
      Part B                                                                             Notes
                                    Destination                         Code
   1.
                  Human consumption                                       1
                  Industrial uses                                         2
                  Withdrawn from the market                               3
                  Bait                                                    4
                  Animal feed                                             5
                  Waste                                                   6
                  Intended use unknown                                    9
                  Human consumption: Included here are all products which are sold at first sale
            for human consumption or which are landed under contract or other agreement for
            human consumption. Excluded are quantities intended for human consumption but
            which, at the time of first sale, are withdrawn from the market for human
            consumption owing to market conditions, hygiene regulations or similar causes
            reasons.
   2.       Industrial uses: Included here are all products specifically landed for reduction to
            meal and oil for consumption by animals, and quantities which, although originally
            intended for human consumption, are not sold for that purpose at first sale.
   The technical adaptation of the contents of this Annex shall be laid down in accordance with
   the procedure laid down in Article 9(2).
EN                                                18                                             EN