Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the sustainable management of external fishing fleets, repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1006/2008

The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) covers the conservation of marine biological resources and the management of fisheries and fleet exploiting those resources. It encompasses fishing activities carried out in Union waters as well as those carried out outside Union waters by Union fishing vessels. Regulation (EC) No 1006/2008 (the ‘FAR’) deals with authorisations of Union vessels to fish outside Union waters and authorisations granted to third country fishing vessels to operate in Union waters. Together with the Control and the IUU Regulations, it is one of the three implementing pillars of the CFP.

Reform of the CFP is enshrined in Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 (the ‘Basic Regulation’). It promotes in particular a sustainable, ecosystem-based and precautionary approach to fisheries management, emphasising the coherence between its internal and external dimension. Union fishing activities outside Union waters should be based on the same principles and standards as those applicable under Union law in the area of the CFP. The Union should be able to monitor its fleet wherever it operates and whatever the framework. The current FAR Regulation needs to be revised to properly address the objectives of the new CFP and to provide consistency with the Control Regulation.

As an integral part of the CFP reform, the Commission proposed a revision to the FAR Regulation in its Communication on External Dimension of the CFP in 2011. It was supported by a European Parliament resolution adopted in 2012. The revision of the FAR is a REFIT initiative aimed at clarifying and simplifying the current provisions, in particular in terms of responsibilities at Union, national and operator level, as well as bringing the FAR in line with the Control Regulation.

• Primary Source

EUR-Lex: COM(2015)636: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2015:636:FIN

EUR-Lex: SWD(2015)276: Executive summary of the impact assessment http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2015:276:FIN

EUR-Lex: SWD(2015)279: Impact assessment http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2015:279:FIN

ESO: Background information: Commission proposes new rules to improve transparency and monitoring of EU fleet fishing internationally http://www.europeansources.info/record/commission-adopts-a-draft-proposal-to-improve-transparency-and-monitoring-of-eu-fleet-fishing-internationally/

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