| Author (Corporate) | European Commission |
|---|---|
| Series Title | COM |
| Series Details | (2013) 889 final (17.12.13) |
| Publication Date | 17/12/2013 |
| Content Type | Policy-making |
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One of the central objectives of the reform of the current Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the progressive elimination of discards in all European Union (EU) fisheries through the introduction of a landing obligation. This is designed to make better use of the available resources, and responds to public expectation to end the practice of throwing marketable fish back into the sea. High levels of discards are identified as an important driver of the lack of environmental sustainability of the CFP in the impact assessment carried out for the proposal for the Basic Regulation for the CFP. The European Parliament in its plenary vote in February 2013 agreed the gradual introduction of the landing obligation with a starting date of 2014 for pelagic fisheries, highly migratory species and salmon in the Baltic and extending to all fisheries in the Union in the following years. Later in February, the Council also gave a clear indication that they support this approach and agreed a similar timetable for implementation. Subsequently political agreement has been reached by the European Parliament and Council on the Basic Regulation with a new start date for implementation of the landing obligation of 1 January 2015. In order to make the landing obligation operational certain provisions within the current Regulations on technical measures, management measures and control that run contrary to the landing obligation and oblige fishermen to discard fish must be removed or amended. A declaration signalling this intention was made by the Council at the June Council, urging the Commission to act swiftly to make these changes to the existing regulations once the reform is agreed. It is the intention of the Commission that a new technical measures framework will be developed as part of the reform which, over time, should facilitate the full implementation of the landing obligation as envisaged. It would also incorporate the new, regionalised approach, including the development of multiannual and discard plans. However, this new framework will almost certainly not be in place in time for the first group of fisheries to be covered under the landing obligation. Therefore legislation is required to remove any legal and practical impediments to implementation on a transitional basis while this new framework is being developed. As the first group of fisheries will be subject to the landing obligation in 2015, the relevant provisions of the regulations on technical measures, management measures and on control measures should be amended by this Regulation to ensure timely removal of legal obstacles to applying the landing obligation. |
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| Source Link | http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2013:889:FIN |
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| Subject Categories | Business and Industry |
| Countries / Regions | Europe |
