Proposal to amend Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy

Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 introduced the so-called landing obligation, i.e. the progressive obligation to land all catches for stocks under catch limits or under minimum conservation reference size. In principle, the details of the implementation of the landing obligation are to be defined in regional multi-annual management plans adopted through co-decision.

However, since it was expected that the adoption of multi-annual plans would require some time, as a temporary solution Regulation 1380/2013 provided for the adoption of Commission delegated acts establishing discard plans shaped through joint recommendation of the Member States concerned for a period of no more than three years. The first Commission delegated regulations establishing discard plans entered into force on 1 January 2015 and are due to expire at the end of 2017.

To date, only the Baltic multiannual plan is in place, whereas two Commission proposals for a multiannual plan for demersals in the North Sea and for small pelagics in the Adriatic are currently under negotiation between the co-legislators. Against this background, it is necessary to set the empowerment of the Commission to adopt discard plans for a further total period of up to three years to facilitate the implementation of the landing obligation.

EUR-Lex: COM(2017)424: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2017:424:FIN

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