2000/439/EC: Council Decision of 29 June 2000 on a financial contribution from the Community towards the expenditure incurred by Member States in collecting data, and for financing studies and pilot projects for carrying out the common fisheries policy

Council Decision
of 29 June 2000
on a financial contribution from the Community towards the expenditure incurred by Member States in collecting data, and for financing studies and pilot projects for carrying out the common fisheries policy
(2000/439/EC)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 37 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission(1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament(2),
Whereas:
(1) Article 16 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92 of 20 December 1992 establishing a Community system for fisheries and aquaculture(3), provides that the situation as regards fishery resources, and its economic implications, needs to be assessed regularly.
(2) Regulation (EC) No 1543/2000(4) establishes a Community framework for the collection and management of the fisheries data needed to conduct the common fisheries policy (CFP).
(3) By collecting these data, Member States are carrying out a task which is beneficial to the Community in that it contributes to the more efficient management of the common resources. While implementation of the programmes is the responsibility of the Member States, they should therefore qualify for a contribution from the Community towards certain costs incurred in collecting and managing the said data.
(4) The action taken by the Commission to assist the collection of these data through annual calls for proposals financed as FIFG innovative measures has reached a level of stability. This action should be consolidated, therefore, on a multiannual basis.
(5) A financial reference, within the meaning of point 34 of the Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission of 6 May 1999, is included in this Decision for the entire duration of the period for which financial assistance is to be provided, without thereby affecting the powers of the budgetary authority as defined by the Treaty.
(6) In order to guarantee the necessary financial resources, the preparation of the national programmes and the corresponding Commission decision to co-finance them should take place the year before their execution.
(7) Provision should be made to ensure, in 2001, the collection of basic data needed to conduct the CFP.
(8) The methods used to collect and process the basic data on fisheries should be compared, and ways should be sought of improving them. The quality of the results obtained should be examined and assessed regularly.
(9) Financial assistance should therefore be granted to explore the possibilities and usefulness of extending the scope of the Community framework for the collection and management of basic data.
(10) The pilot projects and studies needed to carry out the CFP should be eligible for support, in particular for economic and bio-economic analyses, work on eliminating and preventing overcapacity, and the relations between fisheries, aquaculture and the development of aquatic ecosystems.
(11) Steps should be taken to ensure the satisfactory outcome of the measures financed under this Decision.
(12) In order to facilitate implementation of these provisions, there should be a procedure for close cooperation between Member States and the Commission within a management committee.
(13) The measures necessary for the implementation of this Decision 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 Commission(5).
(14) Rules should be laid down governing the eligibility of the expenditure, the level of the Community contribution and the terms on which it will be made available,