Proposal for a Council Decision on the position to be adopted, on behalf of the European Union, in the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT)

The Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT) was established by the Convention for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CSBT Convention). The Union has been a Cooperating Non-Member of the CCSBT since 2006 and, in line with the CCSBT Resolution to Establish the Status of Co-operating Non-Member of the Extended Commission and the Extended Scientific Committee adopted in 2003, is bound to implement its decisions.

Pursuant to Article 218(9) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the position to be adopted on behalf of the Union in Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) such as when they are called upon to adopt acts having legal effects, with the exception of acts supplementing or amending their institutional framework, must be adopted by Council Decision, on a proposal from the Commission.

Such position within RFMOs is currently established according to a two tier approach. A Council Decision sets out the guiding principles and orientations of the Union's position on a multiannual basis, whereas it is thereafter adjusted for each annual meeting by Commission non-papers to be discussed in the Council Working Party.

As regards CCSBT, Council Decision 13424/09 of 9 October 2009, provides for a review of the Union's position before the 2014 annual meeting. Therefore, this proposal aims at setting out the Union's position within CCSBT for the period 2014-2019 and thereby replacing Council Decision 13424/09 which is covering the period 2009-2014.

This revision aims at incorporating 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, taking also into account the objectives of the Commission Communication on the external dimension of the CFP. Moreover, the Union's position has been adjusted to the Lisbon Treaty. At last, the position has been aligned to the extent possible taking into account the specificities of the different RFMOs.

• Primary Source

EUR-Lex: COM(2014)126: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2014:126:FIN

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