13.8.2003 Official Journal of the European Union L 204/21 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1438/2003 of 12 August 2003 laying down implementing rules on the Community Fleet Policy as defined in Chapter III of Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 of 20 December 2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploita- tion of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries Policy (), and in particular Article 11(5), Article 12(2), Article 13(3) and Article 14(2) thereof, Whereas: 1 The adjustment in fishing capacity of the Community fishing fleet should be monitored closely to bring it into line with the available resources. To that end, Chapter III of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 sets out a number of specific measures. Rules should be laid down to ensure the correct imple- mentation of Chapter III of Regulation (EC) No 2371/ 2002 by the Member States, taking into account all rele- vant parameters for the management of fleet capacity, in terms of tonnage (GT) and power (kW), provided for in that Regulation and also in Council Regulation (EC) No 2369/2002 of 20 December 2002 amending Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 laying down the detailed rules and arrangements regarding Community structural assistance in the fisheries sector (%). Reference levels for fishing capacity should be fixed at 1 January 2003 for the fleet of each Member State, with the exception of its fleet registered in the outermost regions. It is necessary to establish rules for the adjustment of the reference levels to take account of Article 11(4) and (5), Article 13(2) and, for reasons of transparency, Article 13(1)(b)(ii) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 and of the re-measurement of the Community fleet which is to be completed by the end of the year 2003 in accordance with Council Regulation (EEC) No 2930/86 of 22 September 1986 defining characteristics for fishing vessels (°), as amended by Regulation (EC) No 3259/ 94 (4. It is necessary to establish rules to assess whether Member States who grant renewal aid after 1 January 2003 comply with the obligation to reduce their refer- ence level of 1 January 2003 by 3 % on 1 January 2005. L 358, 31.12.2002, p. 59. L 358, 31.12.2002, p. 49. L 274, 25.9.1986, p. 1. L 339,29.12.1994, p. 11. (6) (10) ( ( ( ( 5 6 7! 8 ) O] ) O] ) O] ) O] Requests by Member States submitted to the Commis- sion before 31 December 2002 to increase their objec- tives in the Fourth Multiannual Guidance Programme (MAGP 1V), as provided for in Article 6(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 (), as amended by Regu- lation (EC) No 179/2002 (°), and Article 3 and Article 4(2) of Council Decision 97[413/EC ('), as amended by Decision 2002/70/EC (), are to be taken into account where appropriate for the determination of reference levels. It is necessary to establish a calculation method in order to assess whether Member States manage entries into and exits from their fleet of fishing vessels in compliance with Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002. For the calculation of the overall fishing capacity of the fleet at 1 January 2003 special treatment should be given to entries into the fleet of vessels for which an adminis- trative decision was taken between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2002 in conformity with the legislation applicable at that time and in accordance with the national entry/exit regime notified to the Commission under Article 6 of Decision 97/413/EC, provided that those vessels enter the fleet not later than three years after the date of the administrative decision by the concerned Member State. Implementing rules are needed for decisions by Member States on the eligibility of modernisation works to improve safety, working conditions, product quality and hygiene on board vessels as referred to in Article 11(5) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002, in order to ensure a transparent assessment and an equal treatment of the requests, while preventing any increase in fishing effort as a result of such works. Increases in enclosed volume over the main deck do not affect the tonnage of vessels under 15 m in length overall, in accordance with Regulation (EEC) No 2930/ 86. Therefore, the modernisation of these vessels above the main deck is not taken into account when adapting the reference levels according to Article 11(5) of Regula- tion (EC) No 2371/2002. L 337, 30.12.1999, p. 10. L 31, 1.2.2002, p. 25. L 175,3.7.1997, p. 27. L 31, 1.2.2002, p. 77.