14 REV 1 - Main contents

Please note

This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.

dossier	COM(2019)104 - EU position in the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission and repealing Decision 9451/1/14 REV 1.
source	COM(2019)104
date	06-03-2019

1. Subject matter of the proposal

This proposal concerns a Decision establishing the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf at meetings of the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) for the period 20192023 in connection with the envisaged adoption of conservation and management measures.

2. Context of the proposal

2.1.Convention on Future Multilateral Cooperation in North-East Atlantic Fisheries

The Convention on Future Multilateral Cooperation in North-East Atlantic Fisheries (NEAFC Convention) aims, by establishing the NEAFC, to ensure the long-term conservation and optimum utilisation of the fishery resources in the Convention area (‘the regulatory area’). The Convention entered into force on 17 March 1982 and was amended in 2004 and 2006. Although the 2004 and 2006 amendments formally entered into force on 29 October 2013, it was agreed (in accordance with the London Declaration) that they should be implemented on a provisional basis from their adoption.

The Union is a party to the NEAFC Convention, having approved it pursuant to Council Decision 81/608/EEC ¹ . The 2004 and 2006 amendments were approved by Council Decision 2009/550/EC ² .

2.2.North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission

The NEAFC is the body established by the NEAFC Convention to be responsible for the management and conservation of fishery resources in the regulatory area. It adopts conservation and management measures to achieve optimum utilisation of the fishery resources under its purview.

As a member of the NEAFC, the Union has participation and voting rights. The NEAFC takes its decisions by a two-thirds majority of the votes.

2.3.NEAFC decisions

The NEAFC has the authority to adopt conservation and management measures for the fisheries under its purview and these are binding on the contracting parties.

In accordance with Article 12 (1) and (2) of the NEAFC Convention, the measures enter into force 80 days after the date on which the contracting parties are notified of them by the NEAFC. Contracting parties that object to a measure within 50 days of being notified are not bound by that measure. Where more than a third of the contracting parties submit an objection, the remaining contracting parties are not obliged to implement the contested measure.

3. Position to be taken on the Union’s behalf

The position to be adopted on behalf of the Union at the annual meetings of regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs) is currently established according to a twotier approach. A Council Decision sets out the guiding principles and orientations of the Union’s position on a multiannual basis and it is subsequently adjusted for each annual meeting by Commission non-papers to be discussed in the Council Working Party.

For the NEAFC, this approach is implemented by Council Decision 9451/1/14 REV 1 of 19 May 2014, which sets out the Union’s position in the NEAFC for the period 2014-2018. The Decision contains general principles and orientations, but also takes into account to the extent possible the specificities of the NEAFC. In addition, it sets out the standard process for establishing the Union’s position year by year, as requested by Member States.

Decision 9451/1/14 REV 1 provides for a review of the Union’s position before the 2019 annual meeting. Therefore, this proposal sets out the Union’s position in the NEAFC for the period 2019-2023, thereby replacing Decision 9451/1/14 REV 1.

Decision 9451/1/14 REV 1 incorporated the principles and orientations of the new common fisheries policy (CFP), as laid down in Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council ³ , also taking into account the objectives set in the Commission Communication on the external dimension of the CFP ⁴ . Moreover, it adjusted the Union’s position to the Lisbon Treaty.

The current revision takes into consideration, in connection with impacts of fishing, account of the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on a European strategy for plastics in a circular economy ⁵ , the Joint Communication by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the Commission on International ocean governance: an agenda for the future of oceans ⁶ and the Council conclusions on that Joint Communication ⁷ .

4. Legal basis

4.1.Procedural legal basis

4.1.1.Principles

Article 218(9) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides for decisions establishing ‘the positions to be adopted on the Union’s behalf in a body set up by an agreement, when that body is called upon to adopt acts having legal effects, with the exception of acts supplementing or amending the institutional framework of the agreement’.

‘Acts having legal effects’ include acts that have legal effects by virtue of the rules of international law governing the body in question, and instruments that do not have a binding effect under international law, but are ‘capable of decisively influencing the content of the legislation adopted by the EU legislature’ ⁸ .

4.1.2.Application to the present case

The NEAFC is a body set up by an agreement, namely the NEAFC Convention.

The acts that the NEAFC is called upon to adopt constitute acts having legal effects. They are to be binding under international law in accordance with Article 12 of the NEAFC Convention and are capable of decisively influencing the content of EU legislation, including:

·Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 establishing a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing ⁹ ;

·Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy ¹⁰ ; and

·Council Regulation (EU) 2017/2403 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2017 on the sustainable management of external fishing fleets ¹¹ .

The envisaged acts do not supplement or amend the institutional framework of the NEAFC Convention.

Therefore, the procedural legal basis for the proposed Decision is Article 218(9) TFEU.

4.2.Substantive legal basis

4.2.1.Principles

The substantive legal basis for a Decision under Article 218(9) TFEU depends primarily on the objective and content of the envisaged act in respect of which a position is taken on the Union’s behalf. If that act pursues two aims or has two components, and if one of those aims or components is identifiable as the main one, whereas the other is merely incidental, the Decision under Article 218(9) TFEU must be founded on a single substantive legal basis, namely that required by the main or predominant aim or component.

4.2.2.Application to the present case

The main objective and content of the envisaged act relate to fisheries. Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 is the legal basis setting out the principles to be reflected in this position.

Therefore, the substantive legal basis of the proposed Decision is Article 43(2) TFEU. The Decision is to replace Decision 9451/1/14 REV 1, which covers the period 2014-2018.

4.3.Conclusion

The legal basis of the proposed Decision should be Article 43(2) TFEU, in conjunction with Article 218(9) TFEU.