29. 12. 94 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 339/11 COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 3259/94 v of 22 December 1994 amending Regulation (EEC) No 2930/86 defining the characteristics of fishing © ' vessels THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 43 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the European Parlia- ment ('), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (%), Whereas reference is made to the characteristics of fishing vessels in the common fisheries policy, requiring uniform definitions of wvessel characteristics; whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 2930/86 of 22 September 1986 defining the characteristics of fishing wvessels(®) was adopted for this purpose ; Whereas Community action in this field should where possible be based on recommendations already adopted by specialist international organizations ; Whereas the need for a standardized international system of tonnage measurement of ships was recognized because of widely differing tonnages for individual ships of the same length ; whereas, in view of this, the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships was signed in London on 23 June 1969 (ICTM 1969) under the aegis of the International Maritime Organization (IMO); Whereas that Convention defines gross tonnage as a func- tion of the total volume of all enclosed spaces of a ship; whereas the methodology for the measurement of gross tonnage is laid down in Annex I to the Convention ; Whereas the said Convention applies from 18 July 1994 to all non-exempted ships, including fishing vessels of 24 metres or more in length engaging in international voyages ; whereas ships of less than 24 metres in length . are, inter alia, exempted from the Convention ; Whereas Regulation (EEC) No 2930/86 extended the provisions of Annex I to the said Convention to all Community fishing vessels ; Whereas Member States have experienced certain difficul- ties in fully implementing the tonnage provisions of Regulation (EEC) No 2930/86, particularly in relation to smaller fishing vessels ; whereas, for those smaller vessels, () OJ No C 323, 21. 11. 1994. () Opinion delivered on 14 September 1994 (not yet published in the Official Journal of the European Communities). () OJ No L 274, 25. 9. 1986, p. 1. the methodology laid down in Annex I to the said Convention is in certain cases inappropriate ; Whereas there should be flexible provisions for existing vessels, and in particular for those less than 15 metres in length, so that an estimate may be used for their tonnage ; Whereas for vessels less than 15 metres in length a simpler definition of gross tonnage is desirable ; Whereas vessels equal to, or greater than, 15 metres in length should be measured in accordance with the said Convention in view of the greater importance of the superstructure volume of those vessels ; Whereas a postponement of the deadline of 18 July 1994 for remeasuring existing vessels equal to, or greater than, 15 metres and less than 24 metres in length is necessary because of the technical demands involved in measuring vessels in accordance with the methodology of the 1969 Convention, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION : Article 1 Regulation (EEC) No 2930/86 is hereby amended as follows : 1. the first subparagraph of Article 3 shall be replaced by the following : “The breadth of a vessel shall be the maximum breadth as defined in Annex I to the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, hereinafter referred to as the “1969 Convention”. ; 2. Article 4 (1) shall be replaced by the following: ‘1. (@) The tonnage of a fishing vessel shall be gross tonnage as specified in Annex I to the 1969 Convention. (b) The gross tonnage of all new fishing vessels with an overall length equal to, or greater than, 15 metres and the keel of which is laid on or after 18 July 1994 shall be measured as speci- fied in Annex I to the 1969 Convention. (c) The gross tonnage of new and existing fishing vessels with an overall length of less than 15 metres shall be measured in accordance with the formula set out in Annex I to this Regula- tion.