Brussels, 20/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - In a verdict returned on 18 June (T-260/11), the General Court of the EU rejected Spain's request for the annulment of a 2011 regulation providing for deductions from certain quotas allocated to that country due to its overfishing in 2010.
This regulation imposed sanctions on Spain in the form of deductions from certain quotas between 2011 and 2015, due to overfishing for mackerel, assessed at 20,000 tonnes, in 2010.
Spain did not dispute the level of the overfishing, but called for the regulation to be cancelled for several reasons. Firstly, Spain criticised the Commission for having treated it “illegally in comparison to Ireland and the United Kingdom”. For these two countries, the deductions had been limited to 15% of the annual quota. Spain argues that the Commission applied a percentage in excess of 15% to the case of mackerel overfishing by Spain, “which constitutes unjustified discrimination”. However, the General Court takes the view that the situations which led to the contested regulation were not the same, or even similar, to justify their equal treatment by the Commission. The Commission was therefore not obliged to apply the same upper limit of 15%.
Spain also based its request to have the regulation annulled on the following other reasons: - it argued that the Commission did not secure the opinion of the management committee before deciding on the overfishing sanctions (but it was not obliged to do so, according to the General Court); - the Commission's failure to observe Spain's right to defend itself; - violation of the principle of protection of the legitimate confidence of holders of quotas (Spain argues that the Commission's regulation dating from 22 February 2011 disrupted the implementation of the national ruling on the mackerel fishing season which started on 15 February 2011).
The General Court takes the view that Spain's right to be heard was observed. Following an analysis of the facts, it appears that the “Spanish authorities iteratively had and took the opportunity to present their point of view in a useful manner and during the period between July 2010 and February 2011, they were indeed able to supply relevant information, particularly regarding the socio-economic situation in the Spanish fisheries sector, in order to allow the Commission to exercise its powers of assessment, in other words they had the opportunity to influence the outcome”, states the General Court.
The Commission agreed to Spain's request for the deductions to be staggered over five years (between 2011 and 2015), specifically to offset the negative impact of these sanctions on the sector. (LC)