Why was the new Control Regulation adopted in Council?
The fisheries Control Regulation in force until now dates back to 1993. It has since been amended a dozen times, in particular in 1998 to include the control of fishing effort, and in 2002 during the last reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The resulting system had serious shortcomings that prevented it from being as effective as it should have been.
This in turn impacted negatively on the implementation of other elements of the CFP and undermined the success of conservation and effort management initiatives. Control failures thus contributed to the negative performance of the CFP, which appeard unable to deliver on its fundamental objective. There are three main kinds of problems with the current system:
A control and inspection framework which has not kept pace with changes in fisheries management, and remains disproportionately focused on activities at sea.
A low detection rate and lack of effective deterrent sanctions have not encouraged a culture of compliance in a world where too many vessels are chasing too few fish.
The Commission lacks the powers it needs to exercise full control over the Member States’ implementation of CFP rules, and to intervene when necessary to ensure a level playing field.
Despite several years of implementation of conservation measures, the state of resources in EU waters remains worrying. Some 88% of stocks are overfished, and this threatens both fish stocks and the livelihoods of fishermen. This situation had to stop, in order to halt the negative impact on fisheries resources, the fishing industry and regions dependent on fishing. That is why the Commission has taken the initiative to substantially reform the CFP control system, addressing all its shortcomings and modernising its approach.
Will the new system really be more effective?
The new Regulation takes a focused approach to addressing each of the problems listed above, and introducing concrete measures to concrete current failings.
Control and inspection will be focused where it is most effective, through an approach based on systematic risk analysis. Inspection procedures will be standardised and harmonised for all stages along the chain, including transport and marketing. Use of modern data-processing and communications technologies will be extended. Where possible, data processing will be automated, and subject to systematic and comprehensive cross-checking. The result will be a system which is more effectively targeted, more effective, and also less costly and burdensome to operate.
The new system will encourage a culture of compliance among operators. Until now, punishment for breaking the rules has differed from country to country. The new Regulation will seek to harmonise sanctions. This harmonisation of sanctions will be boosted by better cooperation among Member States. A point system for serious infringements will be introduced, which can lead to a fishing licence being suspended, or even withdrawn, after a certain number of points have been accumulated. New, more effective systems for sharing control data will be introduced, and the mandate of the Community Fisheries Control Agency will be extended, to enable it to play its role more effectively.
Commission officials will be given extended inspection powers, allowing them to carry out inspections on their own initiative without prior notification. Where failings are detected, the Member State will be given the opportunity to remedy the situation through an action plan drawn up in collaboration with the Commission.
Will the new system not cost more?
To the contrary, it will reduce administrative burdens and make the system less bureaucratic. The total administrative costs for operators can be reduced almost 50% (from € 79 to 40 million), largely thanks to the extended use of modern technologies – i.e. the Electronic Reporting System (ERS), and Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) to all vessels over 12 metres long.
Existing paper-based tools (logbooks, landing declarations and sales notes) will be replaced at all stages of the fisheries chain. For example, the electronic logbook will lower the administrative burden for the fishermen, as certain basic information will be automatically recorded; when using a paper logbook, the fishermen has to fill in all information every time and on every sheet. The time spent filling in the logbook should be reduced by almost 70%, as the fishermen will only need to fill in the catch data.
The system will be quicker, more accurate, less expensive and will allow for the automated processing of data. It will also facilitate cross-checking of data and information, and the identification of risks. The result will be a more rational and risk-based approach in practice to control actions at sea and on land, which is inherently more cost-effective.
The new system will also remove the current obligation on Member States to transmit lists of fishing licenses or fishing permits to the Commission. These will instead be made accessible electronically to the control services of their own country and of other Member States, and to the Commission.
How will the point system for serious infringements work?
The point system for serious infringements will basically work in the same way as the systems for traffic offences familiar to motorists in most Member States. The number of points to be attributed for specific infringements will be fixed in detailed rules. Every time a serious infringement is committed, the appropriate number of points will be attributed to the offender in the national registry of fishery offences of the flag Member State. Infringements committed in other Member States will be communicated to the flag Member State.
Any vessel which accumulates more than a certain number of points in a three-year period will have its fishing licence suspended for at least two months. For repeat offences the penalty increases to suspensions of four, eight and twelve months respectively. If, after the end of the fourth suspension period, the offender again incurs the necessary number of points, the fishing licence will be withdrawn for good. However, if the offender does not commit any serious infringements within three years of the previous such infringement, all points on the fishing license will be deleted and he will start again with a clean slate. Points stay with the vessel and are therefore transferred to the new owner if the vessel is sold on.
Detailed rules for the point system will be drawn up at EU level in close cooperation with Member States. The relevant article of the new Control Regulation will only enter into force six months after the adoption of these detailed rules. Member States will also be required to establish a similar point system for masters of fishing vessels.
The point system does not introduce new sanctions and does not interfere with the discretionary power of the national judge to qualify the gravity of the illegal behaviour at stake, as it is only after the judge has established that a given activity should be qualified as a serious infringement that he then proceeds with the corresponding allocation of points.
How will the sanction system work in practice?
The Regulation on fighting illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and the new Control Regulation establish a new common framework for the application of effectively deterrent and dissuasive sanctions where operators seriously infringe the rules of the CFP. The aim of the new system is to ensure that the level of sanctions for serious infringements does not fall below a certain limit, so as to ensure a level playing field across the EU. Insofar as these limits are respected, the new Regulation will not prescribe the actual sanction to be applied in any individual case.
First, the lists of serious infringements are defined in the IUU Regulation and are complemented by a list of another three serious infringements defined in the Control Regulation.
Second, when it comes to defining the level of the sanction for a given serious infringement, the IUU and the Control Regulation now go hand in hand in the sense that the sanction system established in the IUU Regulation will apply to the Control Regulation: not only must a maximum penalty be imposed which is equivalent to at least five times the value of the fishery products obtained by committing a serious infringement or to at least eight times this value in the case of a repeated serious infringement, but also Member States are under the general obligation to impose a sanction that is effectively dissuasive and, as appropriate, calculated from the value of the fisheries products obtained by committing a serious infringement.
How will the traceability system work in practice?
The new Regulation introduces a comprehensive traceability system to track all fish and fisheries products throughout the market chain. Fisheries products will have to be packed in lots, on which certain minimum information (name of the species, live weight, catching or harvesting data, production unit, etc.) must be provided. This information must be made available to the competent authorities.
This information will also have to be entered into the validation system, where it will be cross-checked systematically with other information available for the products. The information for every lot must be available all along the production chain.
Where and to whom do the new rules apply?
The Regulation applies to all fishing activities in EU waters. Hence it will apply also to the fishing activities of third countries in EU waters. In the case of bilateral agreements with third countries which contain specific provisions on control, these provisions will take priority over the Regulation.
Furthermore, the Regulation will apply to all EU vessels, irrespective of where they operate – including outside EU waters. However, it will not take priority over the special provisions contained in fisheries agreements between the EU and third countries in the waters of which EU vessels operate, or over the measures applied by Regional Fisheries Management Organisations.
The Regulation will also apply to nationals of EU Member States involved in fishing under non-EU flags, subject to the primary responsibility of the flag State.
When will the rules come into force?
The Control Regulation will enter into force on 1 January 2010. This date is significant, as it also marks the entry into force of the IUU Regulation. These two Regulations, together with the Fisheries Authorisations Regulation already in force, will constitute the three arms of a comprehensive and workable control system for fisheries.
At the same time, the Commission has acknowledged that, Member States need a little more time to ready themselves fully to implement some measures in the Regulation. For instance, a transition period is foreseen for provisions on the point system for serious infringements. All types of databases related to the new Regulation (electronic databases for serious infringements and for inspection) will also benefit from the transition period. The same applies to a number of new control mechanisms, such as the certification of engine power scheme.
How will the new Regulation affect recreational fisheries?
At the Council meeting in October 2009, the fisheries ministers agreed that, under the new Regulation, catches by recreational fishermen will not be counted against the national quota of Member states. So recreational fishermen have nothing to fear.
From 2010, Member States will be required to evaluate the impact of some recreational fisheries – namely in respect of fish stocks subject to an EU recovery plan (one such example being cod). Reports on catches must be sent to the Commission, which will then ask the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) for independent scientific advice on whether or not the impact is significant.
If – and only if – this impact is shown to be significant for the sustainability of the fishery concerned might specific management measures be taken in future by the Council.
For bluefin tuna rules already exist: International rules agreed under ICCAT, and transposed into EU law, indicate that there is an obligation on Member States to set up a quota for recreational fisheries and to register catches which will count against the national quota (Reg. 302). Also, recreational fishermen must seek authorisation to fish and may only bring back one bluefin tuna per fishing trip.
