COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) No 1360/2014
of 18 December 2014
operating deductions from fishing quotas available for certain stocks in 2014 on account of overfishing of other stocks in the previous years and amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 871/2014 as regards amounts to be deducted in future years
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 of 20 November 2009 establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the common fisheries policy, amending Regulations (EC) No 847/96, (EC) No 2371/2002, (EC) No 811/2004, (EC) No 768/2005, (EC) No 2115/2005, (EC) No 2166/2005, (EC) No 388/2006, (EC) No 509/2007, (EC) No 676/2007, (EC) No 1098/2007, (EC) No 1300/2008, (EC) No 1342/2008 and repealing Regulations (EEC) No 2847/93, (EC) No 1627/94 and (EC) No 1966/2006 (1), and in particular Article 105 (1), (2), (3) and (5) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Council Regulations (EU) No 1262/2012 (2), (EU) No 1088/2012 (3), (EU) No 1261/2012 (4), (EU) No 39/2013 (5) and (EU) No 40/2013 (6) fix fishing quotas for certain stocks for 2013.
(2)
Council Regulations (EU) No 1262/2012, (EU) No 1180/2013 (7), (EU) No 24/2014 (8), and (EU) No 43/2014 (9) fix fishing quotas for certain stocks for 2014.
(3)
According to Article 105(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, when the Commission has established that a Member State has exceeded the fishing quotas which have been allocated to it, the Commission is to operate deductions from future fishing quotas of that Member State.
(4)
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 871/2014 (10) has established deductions from fishing quotas for certain stocks in 2014 on account of overfishing in the previous years.
(5)
However, for certain Member States no deductions could be operated by Implementing Regulation (EU) No 871/2014 from quotas allocated for the overfished stocks because such quotas were not available for those Member States in the year 2014.
(6)
Article 105(5) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 provides that, if it is not possible to operate deductions on the overfished stock in the year following the overfishing because the Member State concerned has no available quota, deductions should be operated on other stocks in the same geographical area or with the same commercial value. According to Commission Communication No 2012/C 72/07 (11) such deductions should be preferably operated from quotas allocated for stocks fished by the same fleet as the fleet that overfished the quota, taking into account the need to avoid discards in mixed fisheries.
(7)
The Member States concerned have been consulted with regard to the proposed deductions from quotas allocated for stocks other than those which have been overfished.
(8)
Moreover, certain deductions provided for by Implementing Regulation (EU) No 871/2014 appear to be larger than the adapted quota available in the year 2014 and, as a consequence, cannot be entirely operated on that quota. According to Commission Communication No 2012/C 72/07, the remaining amounts should be deducted from the adapted quotas available in subsequent years.
(9)
Implementing Regulation (EU) No 871/2014 should therefore be amended accordingly.
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
The fishing quotas for the year 2014 referred to in the Annex I to this Regulation shall be reduced by applying the deductions on the alternative stocks set out in that Annex.
Article 2
The Annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 871/2014 is replaced by the text in Annex II to this Regulation.
Article 3
This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 18 December 2014.