Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) on closer dialogue with the fishing industry and groups affected by the common fisheries policy
28. 9. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 274 E/37 Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) on closer dialogue with the fishing industry and groups affected by the common fisheries policy (1999/C 274 E/05) COM(1999) 382 final - 1999/0163(CNS) (Submitted by the Commission on 22 July 1999) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 37 thereof, Article 1 Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament, (1) Whereas, in order to give the representatives of the fishery products and aquaculture industry together with the other groups concerned a greater role in the design, drafting and implementation of is necessary to establish closer dialogue with these groups and to make the entire decision-making process more transparent, especially in the preparatory stages; the common fisheries policy, it (2) Whereas, in view of the tasks of the Advisory Committee on Fisheries set up by Commission Decision (EC) No. of July 1999, the establishment of closer dialogue and trans- parency could be made easier by the introduction of new measures to improve the organisation of meetings of the Advisory Committee and the communication to the groups concerned of information concerning the issues at stake and the results achieved; (3) Whereas to that end the European trade organisations the should be given help in preparing meetings of Advisory Committee with a view to stimulating compre- hensive study of the issues involved in the common fisheries policy and the impact of its measures, fostering initiatives if possible, from the industry and seeking, common positions on Commission proposals; (4) Whereas in order to improve the circumstances in which decisions are taken the industry should be informed at a very early stage of the initiatives planned and the aims and details of the different common fisheries policy measures should be explained to all the groups concerned, Within the limits of the appropriations adopted annually by the Budget Authority and under the conditions laid down in the Annex hereto, the Commission shall: - contribute up to 100 % of the costs of meetings arranged by the European trade organisations for the purpose of preparing meetings of the Advisory Committee on Fisheries; - ensure that the objectives of the common fisheries policy and measures relating to it, and in particular Commission proposals, relevant information in this field to the fishing industry and the groups concerned. disseminate explained, and are Article 2 Funding may be provided also for meetings of experts arranged by the Commission to support the measures referred to in the second indent of Article 1. Article 3 The Commission may carry out all the verifications it considers necessary to ensure compliance with the conditions and performance of the tasks assigned by this Regulation to the European trade organisations, which shall assist the represen- tatives appointed for this purpose by the Commission. Article 4 This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities. C 274 E/38 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 28. 9. 1999 ANNEX Costs incurred by the European trade organisations in arranging preparatory meetings for meetings of the Advisory Committee on Fisheries The travelling and accommodation costs of members of the European trade organisations required to travel in order to prepare meetings of the Advisory Committee on Fisheries will be eligible. The costs relating to meetings of the European trade organisations unconnected with meetings of the Advisory Committee on Fisheries and costs other than those referred to in paragraph 1 will not be eligible. Each year, as a function of the financial resources available and in proportion to entitlements within the plenary committee of the Advisory Committee on Fisheries, each trade organisation which is a member of the Advisory Committee on Fisheries will be allocated drawing rights under a financing agreement with the Commission. These drawing rights and the average cost of a journey by a member of a trade organisation (approximately EUR 750 in 1998) will determine the number of journeys for which each organisation may be financially responisble for the purpose of preparing meetings, less a maximum of 20 % of the amount of the drawing right which will be retained by each organisation to cover its organisational and administrative costs strictly linked with the organisation of the preparatory meetings. This will include: Communication with all the groups concerned - producing and disseminating documentary material tailored to the specific needs of the groups concerned (written, audiovisual and electronic material) based mainly on surveys conducted among those groups; - providing very wide access to data and explanatory material concerning in particular Commission proposals through the development of the Internet website and producing a regular publication, as well as organising information and training seminars for opinion formers. The above measures will be carried out by external contractors selected by a call for tenders