Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2005)566 - Submission of data on landings of fishery products in Member States - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(2005)566 - Submission of data on landings of fishery products in Member States. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2005)566  |
| date | 11-11-2005 |
| 1. Context of the proposal | |
| 110 | - Grounds for and objectives of the proposal The current community legislation based on Council Regulation (EEC) No 1382/91 on the submission of data on the landings of fishery products in Member States requires the Member States to submit to the Commission monthly data on the quantity and value of landings of fishery products in their ports. An analysis of the methods of collecting and compiling the data by the national authorities and of the uses made of such data by the Commission's services have revealed that improvements can be made which would reduce the workload on the Member States and improve the usefulness of the data. |
| 120 | - General context The community legislation on fishery statistics was designed to provide a total national coverage of harmonised monthly data on the landings of fishery products to supplement the data submissions on a more limited range of products in selected ports under Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 on the common organisation of the market in fishery and aquaculture products. |
| 130 | - Existing provisions in the area of the proposal The proposal is designed to improve and replace the existing community legislation and Council Regulation (EEC) No 1382/91 should therefore be repealed. |
| 141 | - Consistency with the other policies and objectives of the Union Not applicable. |
| 2. Consultation of interested parties and impact assessment | |
- Consultation of interested parties | |
| 211 | Consultation methods, main sectors targeted and general profile of respondents The national fishery statisticians were presented with, and discussed, a working paper containing the technical elements of the current proposal. |
| 212 | Summary of responses and how they have been taken into account Subject to minor editorial changes, the working paper was unanimously approved by the national fishery statisticians. |
- Collection and use of expertise | |
| 221 | Scientific/expertise domains concerned The national representatives in the meeting of Eurostat's Working Group 'Fishery Statistics' were experts with knowledge of the existing legislation and with expertise in the national systems of collecting and compiling fishery statistics. |
| 222 | Methodology used Open discussion between the experts in the meetings of the Working Group 'Fishery Statistics' |
| 223 | Main organisations/experts consulted The experts were from the national fishery ministries and/or the national statistical institutes. |
| 2249 | Summary of advice received and used The existence of potentially serious risks with irreversible consequences has not been mentioned. |
| 225 | Since the current proposal is a simplification of the existing legislation no risks were identified. |
| 226 | Means used to make the expert advice publicly available The results of the experts' discussions were included in the minutes of the meeting of the Working Group 'Fishery Statistics'. |
| 230 | - Impact assessment Since the current proposal is a simplification of the existing legislation an impact assessment was considered unnecessary. As the proposal is a modification and simplification of existing legislation no information campaign of financial incentives is considered appropriate. |
| 3. Legal elements of the proposal | |
| 305 | - Summary of the proposed action The objective of this Regulation shall be to provide for the submission by the Member States of harmonised data on the quantity and value of landings on their territories to permit analyses of the market for fishery products and more general economic analyses of the situation in fisheries. The Regulation differs from the existing legislation in three main respects. Firstly, the submissions are to be of annual data as opposed to monthly data. Monthly data submitted up to six months after the reference month were found to be of limited use for the day-to-day management of the market while annual data are useful for medium- to long-term analyses of the market and reduce the workload of the national authorities in the submission of the data. Secondly, the submissions are to be required by the flag (or nationality) of the vessels responsible for the landings. This requirement, as opposed to the current submissions by the broad groups of EU vessels, of EFTA vessels and of other vessels, will permit more detailed analyses of the data and yet not significantly increase the workload on the national authorities who already collect the data in this detail. Lastly, in circumstances where the structural characteristics of the fisheries sector would result in difficulties for the national authorities incommensurate with the importance of the sector, the Regulation permits a more flexible approach to the use of sampling techniques for the estimation of the total landings. Subject to a justification for their use and an analysis of the quality of the resultant data in a methodological report, the national authorities will be able to employ an appropriate level of sampling techniques for the collection of the data. |
| 310 | - Legal basis Article 285 provides the legal basis for Community statistics. The Council, acting in accordance with the codecision procedure, shall adopt measures for the production of statistics where necessary for the performance of the activities of the Community. This Article sets out requirements relating to the production of Community statistics and requires conformity to standards of impartiality, reliability, objectivity, scientific independence, cost-effectiveness and statistical confidentiality. |
| 320 | - Subsidiarity principle The subsidiarity principle applies insofar as the proposal does not fall under the exclusive competence of the Community. |
| The objectives of the proposal cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States for the following reason(s). | |
| 321 | Action by the Member States alone will be insufficient to ensure the availability of comparable statistics required for the development and monitoring of fair and effective Community policies on the common organisation of the markets in fishery and aquaculture products. The increasing importance of this sector means that reliable and comparable statistics are needed by the Member States. Action by the Member States alone, without coordination and harmonisation at Union level, will be an inefficient and ineffective approach to meeting this need. In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the EC Treaty, the objective of the proposed action, namely the systematic submission of data on the landing of fishery products for the production of harmonised Community statistics, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States acting individually and can therefore be better achieved by the Community. |
| 323 | Experience has shown that Member States collect data on the quantities and values of landings but use a variety of concepts and definitions which result in the non-comparability of the data at the EU level and thus seriously reduce their usefulness in the management of the market for fishery products. |
| Community action will better achieve the objectives of the proposal for the following reason(s). | |
| 324 | The Regulation provides for the coordination and harmonisation of data at the EU level and the submission by the national authorities of reports on the methodology used in the collection and compilation of the data. These reports shall be subject to a review of the content and quality of the submitted data by the Working Group 'Fishery Statistics' of the Standing Committee on Agricultural Statistics. Subject to the acceptance of these methodological reports, the national authorities shall be permitted to use such techniques in the collection of the data as are appropriate to the structure of fisheries on their territory. |
| 325 | Although the Commission is best able to organise the collection of Community statistics, the Member States are competent in the organisation and operation of the national statistical systems. Council Regulation (EC) 322/97 of 17 February 1997 on Community statistics provides that Community statistics shall be governed by inter alia the principles of impartiality and statistical confidentiality. Impartiality implies the availability of statistics, with a minimum delay, to all users. It is conditioned by the obligation that data used by the national authorities and the Commission for the production of Community statistics be considered confidential when they allow statistical units to be identified, either directly or indirectly, thereby disclosing individual information. The national authorities are required to submit methodological reports which are reviewed by the Working Group 'Fishery Statistics' to assess the quality of the national systems for the collection and compilation of the data. |
| 327 | The analysis of the Community market for fishery products has to be undertaken at the EU level using harmonised and comparable national data. |
| The proposal therefore complies with the subsidiarity principle. | |
- Proportionality principle The proposal complies with the proportionality principle for the following reason(s). | |
| 331 | It is recognised that there are wide variations in the structures of the fisheries in the Member States and consequently that there are differences in the tasks of the national authorities in collecting and compiling the data on the volume and value of landings of fishery products. Accordingly the national authorities may employ such techniques for the collection of data that are appropriate to the structure of the fisheries and are commensurate with the importance of the sector. In accordance with the principle of proportionality this Regulation confines itself to the minimum required to achieve this objective and does not go beyond what is necessary for that purpose. |
| 332 | The financial and administrative burden on the national authorities will be no greater than that of the existing legislation. Indeed the requirement for annual rather than monthly data submissions and the possibility of an increased use of sampling techniques should reduce this burden. |
- Choice of instruments | |
| 341 | Proposed instruments: Regulation. |
| 342 | Other means would not be adequate for the following reason(s). Selection of the appropriate category for an act of the EP/Council depends on the legislative goal. Given the information needs at European level, the trend for Community statistics has been to use Regulations rather than Directives for basic acts. Regulation is preferable because it lays down the same law throughout the Community, leaving the Member States with no power to apply them incompletely or selectively; it is directly applicable, which means that it needs not be transposed into national law. In contrast, directives, which aim at harmonisation of national laws, are binding on Member States as regards their objectives, but leave the national authorities the choice of form and methods used to obtain the objectives agreed upon at the Community level; they must be transposed into national law. The use of a Regulation is in line with other statistical legal acts which have been adopted since 1997. |
| 4. Budgetary implication | |
| 409 | The proposal has no implication for the Community budget. |
| 5. Additional information | |
- Simulation, pilot phase and transitory period | |
| 507 | There was or there will be a transitory period for the proposal. |
| 510 | - Simplification |
| 511 | The proposal provides for simplification of legislation. |
| 512 | The current community legislation requires the Member States to submit to the Commission monthly data on the quantity and value of landings of fishery products in their ports. An analysis of the methods of collecting and compiling the data by the national authorities and of the uses made of such data by the Commission's services have revealed that improvements can be made which would reduce the workload on the Member States and improve the usefulness of the data. The Regulation differs from the existing legislation. Firstly, the submissions are to be of annual data as opposed to monthly data. Secondly, the submissions are to be required by the flag (or nationality) of the vessels responsible for the landings. This requirement, as opposed to the current submissions by the broad groups of EU vessels, of EFTA vessels and of other vessels, will permit more detailed analyses of the data and yet not significantly increase the workload on the national authorities who already collect the data in this detail. Lastly, the proposed Regulation permits a more flexible approach to the use of sampling techniques for the estimation of the total landings. |
| 517 | The proposal is included in the Commission's Work and Legislative Programme under the reference 2004/ESTAT/010. |
| 520 | - Repeal of existing legislation The adoption of the proposal will lead to the repeal of existing legislation. |
| 560 | - European Economic Area The proposed act concerns an EEA matter and should therefore extend to the European Economic Area. |