Proposal for a Council Regulation establishing a Community framework for the collection and management of the fisheries data needed to conduct the common fisheries policy
C 376 E/54 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 28. 12. 1999 Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) establishing a Community framework for the collection and management of the fisheries data needed to conduct the common fisheries policy (1999/C 376 E/09) (Text with EEA relevance) COM(1999) 541 final - 1999/0218(CNS) (Submitted by the Commission on 27 October 1999) 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, Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament, (1) Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92 of 20 December 1992 establishing a Community system for fisheries and aquaculture (1) as last amended by Regu- regular lation assessments by the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (hereinafter referred to as the STECF) of the situation as regards fishery resources, and its economic implications; 1181/98 (2), (EC) No provides for (2) Whereas of Conduct the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Code for Responsible Fisheries and the Agreement relating to the Conservation both and Management of emphasise the need to develop research and data collection with a view to improving scientific knowledge; Fish Stocks Straddling (3) Whereas the Community must take part in the efforts undertaken in international waters to conserve fishery resources, notably in accordance with the provisions adopted by the regional fishery organisations; (4) Whereas to conduct the scientific evaluations needed for the common fisheries policy (hereinafter referred to as the CFP) complete data must be collected on the biology of the fish stocks, on the fleets and their activities and on economic and social issues; (5) Whereas the collection of this specific information should be coordinated with statistical data; (6) Whereas priorities must be established at Community the procedures for data collection and level, as must (1) OJ L 389, 31. 12. 1992, p. 1. (2) OJ L 164, 9. 6. 1998, p. 1. processing within the Community, in order to ensure that the entire system is consistent and to optimise its cost- effectiveness by creating a stable multiannual framework; (7) Whereas, rather than basic detailed data, scientific analyses primarily require aggregated data obtained by grouping and processing the detailed data at an appro- priate level, (8) Whereas the existing regulations in this area, in particular Council Regulations (EEC) Nos 3759/92 (3), 2847/93 (4) and (EC) Nos 685/95 (5) and 779/97 (6) and Commission (EC) Nos 2090/98 (7), 2091/98 (8) and Regulations include provisions on the collection and 2092/98 (9) their management of data relating to fishing vessels, activities and catches and on price monitoring, all of which must be taken into account if a comprehensive system is to be established; (9) Whereas the existing regulations do not cover all the activities for which data should be collected with a view to complete and reliable scientific analysis; whereas the regulations currently relate to data on an individual or level but not data aggregated at the appropriate global for scientific evaluation; whereas new provisions level must therefore be introduced to produce multiannual sets of aggregated data that can be accessed by the appro- priate authorised users; (3) Council Regulation (EEC) No 3759/92 of 17 December 1992 on the common organisation of the market in fishery and aquaculture products (OJ L 388, 31. 12. 1992, p. 1). (4) Council Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 of 12 October 1993 estab- lishing a control system applicable to the common fisheries policy (OJ L 261, 20. 10. 1993, p. 1) as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2346/98 (OJ L 358, 31. 12. 1998, p. 5). (5) Council Regulation (EC) No 685/95 of 27 March 1995 on the management of the fishing effort relating to certain Community fishing areas and resources (OJ L 71, 31. 3. 1995, p. 5). (6) Council Regulation (EC) No 779/97 of 24 April 1997 introducing arrangements for the management of fishing effort in the Baltic Sea, (OJ L 113, 30. 4. 1997, p. 1). (7) Commission Regulation (EC) No 2090/98 of 30 September 1998 concerning the fishing vessel register of the Community (OJ L 266, 1. 10. 1998, p. 36). (8) Commission Regulation (EC) No 2091/98 of 30 September 1998 concerning the segmentation of the Community fishing fleet and fishing effort in relation to the multiannual guidance programmes (OJ L 266, 1. 10. 1998, p. 36). (9) Commission Regulation (EC) No 2092/98 of 30 September 1998 concerning the declaration of fishing effort relating to certain Community fishing areas and resources (OJ L 266, 1. 10. 1998, p. 47). 28. 12. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 376 E/55 (10) Whereas the evaluation of all including situation requires biological data catches, covering the sector’s resources and to be economic collected discards, evaluations of available stocks which are independent of the commercial the information on catch capacities and the collection of fishing efforts used, and data explaining price formation and enabling the economic situation of fishing enterprises and the processing industry to be assessed, as well as job trends in these sectors; for a set of resources, fisheries (11) Whereas, while priority must be given to the data strictly required extended programme to improve these evaluations must also be encouraged; evaluations, scientific for an (12) Whereas the scientific community, those working in the fishing industry and the other groups concerned must be involved in drawing up the rules on data collection and management; whereas the appropriate bodies in which to gather the opinions required are the STECF, set up by Article 16 of Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92 and the Advisory Committee on Fisheries (hereinafter referred to as set up by Commission Decision No the ACF), 128/71/EEC (1); (13) Whereas the Community programmes to collect and manage fisheries data must be implemented under the direct responsibility of the Member States; whereas they must accordingly draw up their national programmes in line with the Community programmes; and manage fisheries data will (14) Whereas the implementation of the national programmes require to collect these significant expenditure; whereas is only fully felt at Community level; programmes whereas there should therefore be provision for a Community contribution to the Member States’ costs; whereas this contribution is governed by Decision No. /1999/EC (Decision on assistance for data collection and studies); the worth of (15) Whereas the aggregated data referred to in this Regulation must be fed into computerised databases so that they are accessible to authorised users and can be exchanged; whereas the transmission of specific scientific data is provided for by international organisations, in particular the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea and regional fisheries organisations; (17) Whereas the conduct of the collection and management programmes must be regularly evaluated; whereas the possibility of extending the activities covered should be examined in the medium term, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 This Regulation establishes a Community framework for the collection and management of the data needed to evaluate the situation as regards fishery resources and the fishing industry. The Member States shall be responsible for collecting the data. Article 2 For the purposes of this Regulation: (a) ámultiannual datasetsí means data measuring the changes in a parameter over a number of years (b) áaggregated dataí means the output resulting from the processing of data from a group of vessels for a given period and, where appropriate, for a specific geographic sector, with a view to obtaining an estimate representative of the whole. (c) átime-space gridí means the combination of a geographical area cut into equal sectors and a regular time interval. TITLE I General principles of data collection and management Article 3 shall States establish multiannual datasets 1. Member suitable for scientific analysis which incorporate biological and economic information and comprised of aggregated data. The methods used shall be stable in time and standardised across the Community and shall comply with relevant inter- national provisions. 2. Without prejudice to their current data collection obli- gations under Community law, and in particular the Regu- lations the Member States shall: referred to in points 2 and 3 of Article 4, for (16) Whereas a procedure should be laid down for adopting detailed rules this Regulation, the application of especially with a view to specifying the data that must be collected, as well as rules on the organisation of data handling and on transmission of the aggregated data and access thereto; (a) establish data collection programmes supplementary to these obligations, or for spheres of activity not covered by these obligations and based on sampling where necessary, (b) specify the procedures that will produce aggregated data, (1) Commission Decision of 25 February 1971 setting up an Advisory Committee on Fisheries (OJ L 68, 22. 3. 1971, p. 18) as last amended by Decision 1999/478/EC (OJ L 187, 20. 7. 1999, p. 70). (c) ensure that the data used to produce aggregated data will remain available for any recalculations. C 376 E/56 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 28. 12. 1999 Article 4 The Member States shall collect data: 1. making it possible to discover or estimate the total volume of catches per stock, including discards where appropriate and, where necessary, to classify these catches by vessel group, geographic area and time period. The catches shall be subject to biological sampling. In addition, the Member States shall undertake scientific research at sea to evaluate the abundance and distribution of stocks independently of the data provided by the commercial fisheries in the case of stocks for which such evaluations are possible and useful; 2. needed to evaluate changes the various fishing fleets. To this in fishing power and the end, activities of summaries shall be prepared using the data collected under Council Regulations (EEC) No 2847/93 and (EC) Nos 685/95 and 779/97 and Commission Regulations (EC) Nos 2090/98, 2091/98 and 2092/98 and additional information shall be collected by the Member States, as needed; 3. that allow the prices associated with the various catches, and their formation, to be monitored. The data collected under Regulation (EEC) No 3759/92 shall be grouped and summarised. Additional data shall be collected to reflect all landings at ports inside and outside the Community, as well as imports; in contained the minimum programme, information information likely to improve evaluations substantially. The programmes shall be drawn up for six-year periods, the first of which shall cover the years 2000 to 2005 inclusive. scientific the Both the minimum and extended programmes 2. specify, in particular: shall (a) the headings covered, i. e. : - a list of the stocks involved, - the zones and resources to be covered by the scientific research at sea mentioned in point 1 of Article 4, - the parameters to be taken into account for monitoring changes in fishing power, - the fish species whose prices at unloading must be monitored, and any separation of a species into commercial categories, - the accounting headings or groups of headings that are relevant for the economic monitoring of fishing enter- prises and the processing industry, - the type of jobs that should be monitored. 4. needed to evaluate the economic state of the industry: (b) the level of aggregation of the information collected: (a) as regards the fishing fleets: - the income from sales and other revenue (subsidies, interest received, etc. ) - the production costs - data enabling the jobs at sea to be classified. (b) as regards the fish processing industry: - production expressed in volume and value terms for product categories to be determined - the number of enterprises, and the number of jobs - changes in production costs, and their composition. TITLE II Procedure for establishing the content of Community and national programmes Article 5 1. In accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 18 of Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92, the Commission shall define a minimum Community programme covering the information absolutely needed for scientific evaluations, and an extended Community programme that shall include, in addition to the - the time-space grids, defining the size of the reference sectors and the time intervals to be used, - identification of the groups of vessels and/or ports, as well as the sectors of the fish processing industry; the vessel groups shall correspond to the subsegments of the Multiannual Guidance Programmes (MGPs) and be consistent across headings. (c) where appropriate, the objectives quantified in terms of the precision of the evaluation or the intensity of the sampling programmes. Article 6 1. Each Member State shall draw up for six-year periods and for the first time for the years 2000 to 2005 inclusive, a national programme of collection and management of data. The programme shall describe both the collection of the detailed data and the processing needed to produce aggregated data in accordance with the principles set out in Article 3. It specify the links between it and the Community shall programmes drawn up under Article 5. 2. Each Member State shall guarantee the reliability and stability of the data collection and processing procedures. It shall provide the Commission with the information needed to evaluate the means employed and the effectiveness of the procedures. Where they exist, appropriate international or European definitions and classification systems shall be used to collect and analyse the data. 28. 12. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 376 E/57 Each Member State shall as far as possible include in its 3. national programme the elements relating to it under the minimum Community programme as defined in Article 5. to the minimum Community 4. Member States may apply to the Community for financial assistance for those parts of their national programmes that programme. correspond Community financial assistance may also be sought for additional elements of the national programme corresponding to the extended Community programme, provided that the provisions concerning the minimum programme have been fully met. The Community financial assistance shall be decided in accordance with the detailed rules laid down in Decision No for data. collection and studies). /1999/EC (Decision on financial assistance Article 7 the aggregated data 1. Member States shall ensure that relating to Community programmes are fed into computerised databases. 2. The data covered by this Regulation may be sent by the Member States to the competent international organisations, in accordance with their specific rules and the provisions adopted under Article 8(2)(b). The Commission shall be informed of any data transmissions and shall receive an electronic copy of the data, should it request one. 3. to all The Commission shall have computer access aggregated data relating to the Community programmes and may make the data available to the STECF. Data transmitted or collected in whatever form under this 4. Regulation shall be covered by professional secrecy and shall qualify for the same protection as that granted to similar data by the national legislation of the Member States who receive them, and by the corresponding provisions applying to the Community institutions. TITLE III Final provisions Article 8 1. Detailed rules for the application of this Regulation shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 18 of Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92. The detailed rules of application shall 2. particular: concern in (a) the programmes referred to in Article 5(1); (b) the organisation of data handling: - the for criteria and the minimum standards needed to ensure authorised users have access to the data, interrogating databases - the data that will be, where appropriate, grouped under the Commission’s direct responsibility, - the provisions guaranteeing confidentiality in accordance with Article 7(4). the programmes 3. Without prejudice to paragraph 1, referred to in Article 5(1) shall be adopted after the STECF and the ACF have been consulted. Article 9 The Commission, in association with the STECF and the 1. ACF, shall annually examine the progress of the national programmes in the Management Committee for Fisheries and Aquaculture. On the basis of information supplied by the Member 2. States, and having consulted the STECF, the Commission shall present to the European Parliament and the Council, at three-yearly intervals and for the first time by 31 December 2002, a report evaluating the measures taken by each Member State, the appropriateness of the methods used and the results achieved as the data collection and management referred to in this Regulation. regards it By 31 December 2002 the Commission shall review 3. is appropriate to extend the range of data whether collected under this Regulation. To this end the Member States and the Commission may undertake studies and exploratory projects in areas that are significant for the CFP yet not covered by Article 4, in particular aquaculture, the relationship of fisheries’ and aquaculture with the environment and the capacity of fishing and aquaculture industries to create jobs. These studies and projects may receive Community financial assistance in accordance with the detailed rules laid down in Decision No. /1999/EC (Decision on financial assistance for data collection and studies). On the basis of the report and analyses provided for in 4. paragraphs 2 and 3, and taking account of the changing needs of the CFP, the Commission shall decide, by 31 December 2002, whether an amendment to this Regulation is needed. Article 10 This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities. - the rules on data transmission, including the trans- mission of scientific data to international organisations, This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States