Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the establishment of a Union framework for the collection, management and use of data in the fisheries sector and support for scientific advice regarding the Common Fisheries Policy (recast)

Data collection is essential for the implementation of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), as a basis for founding it on the best possible scientific advice. Data are needed to evaluate the state of fish stocks, the profitability of the different segments of the sector and the effects of fisheries and aquaculture on the ecosystem. Data are also needed to evaluate EU policies: fisheries management measures, structural financial measures in support of the fisheries and aquaculture dependent areas, mitigation measures to reduce negative effects of fisheries on the ecosystem.

For this reason, an EU framework for the collection and management of fisheries data was established in 2000, and then reformed in 2008 resulting in the Data Collection Framework (DCF). The DCF represented a major progress in establishing a harmonized set of EU rules governing the collection of biological, environmental, technical, and socio-economic data on the fishing, aquaculture and processing sectors.

The 2013 reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) needs to be matched by adaptations in the supporting scientific advice and therefore the data needed for it. This is particularly relevant in order to achieve maximum sustainable yield (MSY) at the latest by 2020, to manage fisheries taking account of their impacts on the ecosystem, and to gradually introduce a landing obligation. The reform of the CFP also requires changes in the way data are obtained, e.g. regionalisation and devolution of tasks from the European Union to Member States in the context of regional cooperation.

As part of its Work Programme 2015, the Commission has announced that it will focus its efforts on putting the recent CFP reform smoothly into operation, and that the top priority for fisheries is to focus on exploring synergies between existing legislation.

This proposal intends to build on what works (therefore maintaining a large degree of continuity), whilst at the same time responding to the new requirements. It is accompanied by a staff working paper.

• Primary Source

EUR-Lex: COM(2015)294: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2015:294:FIN

EUR-Lex: SWD(2015)118: Towards a new Union framework for collection, management and use of data in the fisheries sector and support for scientific advice regarding the Common Fisheries Policy http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2015:118:FIN

---