Ricardo Serrão Santos, the Portuguese Minister for the Sea, said on Tuesday 15 June, after an informal meeting in Lisbon of EU fisheries ministers, that he hoped that the Member States would be able to reach a common position on the controls regulation by the end of June.
The European Parliament adopted its position on this text in March (see EUROPE 12676/11). After the adoption of the EU Council’s general approach at the EU Council of 28-29 June, negotiations between the three institutions for a final agreement on this text could begin.
The latest compromise of the Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council foresees, according to an 11 June note obtained by EUROPE (https://bit.ly/3ztUU53 ), an additional obligation for smaller vessels to use Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) and electronic reporting tools, such as the electronic logbook. However, at the request of several delegations, the compromise provides for certain simplifications for vessels of less than 12 metres in length as regards the use of VMS.
CCTV. Rather than focusing on video surveillance, as proposed by the European Commission, the EU Council Presidency compromise introduces remote electronic monitoring (REM) systems which can be made up of various instruments, such as sensors and closed circuit television (CCTV) systems, depending on technical developments. Catch vessels of 24 metres or more in overall length that present a serious risk of non-compliance with the landing obligation will have to be equipped with REM systems.
The Presidency compromise considerably modifies the European Commission’s proposal concerning the rules on the margin of tolerance between the estimated catches recorded in the fishing logbook and the weighed quantities. In addition to introducing an exception for small catches (50 kg and less), the compromise provides for a higher margin of tolerance for certain fisheries, e.g. 10% for small pelagic and industrial species.
Contrary to the European Commission’s proposal, the Presidency’s compromise provides that the obligation to equip vessels with engine power measurement devices will only apply to vessels with an engine power exceeding 221 kilowatts that use towed gear and present a serious risk of non-compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) on engine power.
Link to the latest compromise text of the Portuguese EU Council Presidency: https://bit.ly/3q0cvNx (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)