Considerations on COM(2021)377 - Amendment of Council Regulation (EU) 2019/440 on the allocation of fishing opportunities under the Sustainable fisheries agreement with Morocco and the Implementation Protocol thereto - Main contents
Please note
This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2021)377 - Amendment of Council Regulation (EU) 2019/440 on the allocation of fishing opportunities under the Sustainable fisheries ... |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2021)377  |
| date | September 28, 2021 |
| (2) | On 4 March 2019 the Council adopted Decision (EU) 2019/441 (2) on the conclusion of the Fisheries Agreement and the Implementation Protocol thereto. |
| (3) | Regulation (EU) 2019/440 allocates fishing opportunities in, inter alia, category 6 (industrial fishing for pelagic species) to Member States, including the United Kingdom. |
| (4) | Pursuant to the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community (3) (‘the Withdrawal Agreement’), the United Kingdom is no longer a Member State of the Union as of 1 February 2020. The transition period provided for in the Withdrawal Agreement ended on 31 December 2020. Therefore, the United Kingdom is no longer entitled to use those fishing opportunities beyond that date and they should be reallocated to the Member States as from 1 January 2021. |
| (5) | The reallocation of fishing opportunities should be transparent and proportional to the original quota allocation. |
| (6) | Regulation (EU) 2019/440 should therefore be amended accordingly. |
| (7) | Due to its impact on fishing activities in 2021, this Regulation should apply from 1 January 2021. Such retroactive application does not affect the principles of legal certainty and the protection of legitimate expectations, as the fishing opportunities concerned have not been used by the United Kingdom and are increased for the Member States concerned. |
| (8) | Taking into account the urgency related to the retroactive application of this Regulation, this Regulation should enter into force on the date of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union, |