Scope:

The evaluation of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 (hereinafter 'the Control Regulation') responded to the legal obligation in Article 118(3) according to which an evaluation of the impact of this Regulation on the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) shall be undertaken by the Commission five years after the entry into force.

The main goal of this evaluation was to get an overview on the status of implementation of the Control Regulation in the Member States and its overall impact after five years from entry into force.

Evaluation findings:

The evaluation confirmed that at the level of public authorities electronic reporting reduces the need for human resources in compiling and aggregating catch data from paper logbooks (as an example, in 2008 before the adoption of the current Control Regulation and the introduction of ERS, one Member State had 79 people used exclusively for entering such data into the system), while at the same time increasing the quality and reliability of these data minimising the human error component and through a data validation system.

The evaluation also showed that lack of clarity of some of the provisions were one of the factors that resulted in sometimes different implementation approaches at Member State level, hindering the level playing field among operators and therefore their trust in the system. In addition, the obsolescence of some of the provisions, the lack of flexibility as well as sometimes ineffective implementation by Member States hamper the effectiveness and efficiency of the current legal regime. In this regard provisions on sanctions and point system, follow up of infringements, data exchange and data sharing, traceability, monitoring and catch reporting tools for vessels below 12 meters require particular attention.

Estimated savings and benefits

Administrative burdens have been assessed both for operators and for public control authorities. It should be noted that while nowadays administrative burden refers to both operators and public authorities, in 2007 at the time of the impact assessment of the Control Regulation only the administrative burden for operators was assessed. The evaluation showed that the administrative burden for operators clearly diminished compared to the previous system, although not to the extent envisaged. The administrative burden reduction calculated on the basis of the legislative act adopted in 2010 (SWD(2012)423 - the reduction in administrative burden presented in the impact assessment had to be recalculated as not all the provisions of the proposal of the Commission, which were supposed to reduce the administrative burden, were adopted) was estimated at 77% in respect to the previous system. The reduction of administrative burden was associated to the introduction of the electronic logbook for vessels above 12 meters and to the harmonisation of inspection standards.

Which objectives did the Commission pursue?

Based on the results of the evaluation, the initiative aims at amending the Union fisheries control system to simplify it, to make it more effective and efficient and to ensure full compliance with the reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

In particular, the initiative aims to:

• Remove obstacles that lead to ineffective or different implementation of provisions by Member States and to situations that hinder equitable treatment of operators within and across Member States, e.g. concerning the enforcement of rules;

• Simplify the current legislative framework and reducing administrative burden e.g. by streamlining reporting requirements; promoting the use of harmonised and/or interoperable IT tools, and harmonise the catalogue of serious infringements.

• Improve availability, reliability and completeness of fisheries data and information, in particular of catch data, which are key to monitor and deliver on the CFP objectives and allow exchange and sharing of information;

• Bridge the gaps with the reformed CFP, with special regard to appropriate control rules relating to the landing obligation and to the revised multiannual approach to fisheries management;

• Enhance the level of coordination among and within Member States, the European Commission and the European Fishery Control Agency (EFCA) to improve synergies and promote a level playing field at EU level.

• Align EFCA's mission and tasks with recent developments in the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), notably the landing obligation, regionalisation, measures to combat IUU fishing and the external dimension of the CFP as well as with any future revision of the Control Regulation.

The proposal considers an opinion by the REFIT Platform, a report by the European Court of Auditors, a resolution by the European Parliament and recommendations by the EFCA Administrative Board following the results of the second five-year EFCA's evaluation.

REFIT Platform

The REFIT Platform adopted an opinion on the control of EU fisheries stressing the need for a proportionate and effective application of the Fisheries Control Regulation, recognising that certain provisions of Regulation No 1224/2009 can create regulatory burden for the fisheries administration as well as for the fishing vessels' operators and other fish market operators.

Estimated savings and benefits

The actions and amendments foreseen under the preferred Option from the Impact Assessment would strongly support the reduction in unnecessary administrative burden for the public authorities and, considering that most of the new costs are associated with ICT development and one-off investments, also in the long term for the whole EU. The preferred Option is expected to simplify and drastically reduce the administrative burden of the current system, with cost savings estimated at €157 million over 5 years compared to the baseline. It should be noted that not all savings could be monetised.

Any additional burden for small operators (small-scale fishermen) should be avoided by the introduction of easy and cost-effective reporting systems for fishery data, taking advantage of affordable and widely available mobile phones technologies. Furthermore, the introduction of new ICT would boost innovation and provide new avenues for job creation for SMEs and start-ups.