Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2010)711 - Fixing for the 2011 fishing year the guide prices and Community producer prices for certain fishery products pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(2010)711 - Fixing for the 2011 fishing year the guide prices and Community producer prices for certain fishery products pursuant to ... |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2010)711  |
| date | 01-12-2010 |
2. Grounds for and objectives of the proposal
The immediate objective of this proposal is to enable the Council to discharge its regulatory obligation to determine the guide prices and the Community producer price for the fishing year 2011. The wider objective of this proposal is thus to ensure the functioning of the price support and intervention mechanisms laid down in Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 during the fishing year in question.
- General context
Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 establishes a Common Organisation of the Markets in Fishery and Aquaculture Products, which pertains to the market- and trade-related aspects of the Common Fisheries Policy and thus also serves to implement the objectives enshrined in Article 39 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Specific price support and intervention mechanisms are one important component of the Common Market Organisation. In this context, Article 43 i of the Treaty obliges the Council to adopt, upon a proposal from the Commission, measures on the fixing of prices. This concerns the guide prices for a specified number of fishery products of EU importance as well as the Community producer price for specified tuna products. The guide prices form the reference for the subsequent fixing, by way of Commission regulations, of the different technical parameters needed for the operation of the intervention mechanisms. The Community producer price is of relevance for the compensatory allowance for tuna delivered to the processing industry, which might be triggered when prices on the world markets fall below a specified trigger level.
Pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000, the relevant prices shall follow both the development of market prices during the three preceding fishing years as well as trends in production and demand. In line with that, the proposal is for decreases between -1% and -3% for most whitefish species; for increases between +1% and +2% for pelagic species such as mackerel, Spanish mackerel and whole albacore, as well as reductions between -0.5% and -2% for herring, sardines, anchovies and gutted albacore; and for increases between +1.5% and +3% for Northern prawns. In the field of frozen products, the proposal reflects increases between +1% and +2% for hake (whole and fillets), swordfish and Illex, and reductions between -1% and -3% for sea bream, squids (loligo), and prawns (other Penaeidae). Finally, the proposal is for decreasing the Community producer price for tuna products by -2%.
- Existing provisions in the area of the proposal
Council Regulation (EC) No 1212/2009 fixing for the 2010 fishing year the guide prices and Community producer prices for certain fishery products pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 104/2000.
- Consistency with the other policies and objectives of the Union
The functioning of the Common Market Organisation set up by Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 and the discharge of the regulatory obligations pertaining thereto also serve to implement the objectives enshrined in Article 39 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
3. CONSULTATION OF INTERESTED PARTIES AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT
4. Consultation of interested parties
Consultation methods, main sectors targeted and general profile of respondents
The Management Committee for Fishery Products and the Advisory Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture.
Summary of responses and how they have been taken into account
The views of both Committees have provided valuable input to the Commission's market analysis.
- Collection and use of expertise
Scientific/expertise domains concerned
Markets in fishery products.222
Methodology used
Open consultation.
Main organisations/experts consulted
Experts representing the Member States at the Management Committee for Fishery Products. Experts representing all major groups of EU stakeholders at the Advisory Committee for Fisheries and Aquaculture.
Summary of advice received and used
The existence of potentially serious risks with irreversible consequences has not been mentionned.
Advices are usually reflected in the proposal fixing the guide prices and Community producer prices.226
Means used to make the expert advice publicly available
Minutes of the meetings of the Management Committee for Fishery Products and the Advisory Committee for Fisheries and Aquaculture.
- Impact assessment
Considering the specific nature of the proposal, namely the annual determination of relevant prices pursuant to the provisos of the Common Market Organisation in its present version, an impact assessment is not required.
The proposal is nevertheless based on a regular monitoring on interventions in the preceding fishing years and a thorough analysis of the market situation for each one of the relevant fishery products.
6. Summary of the proposed action
Proposal for a Council Regulation fixing for the 2011 fishing year the guide prices and Community producer prices for certain fishery products.
- Legal basis
Article 43 i of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
- Subsidiarity principle
The proposal falls under the exclusive competence of the Community. The subsidiarity principle therefore does not apply.
- Proportionality principle
The proposal complies with the proportionality principle for the following reason(s).
The attainment of the Single Market in the field of fisheries products requires the fixation of guide prices. The Common Market Organisation provides for specific intervention mechanisms but forces none of the relevant actors (producer organisations) to have recourse to intervention.332
The Common Market Organisation has considerably decreased both the attractiveness of intervention in the form of wasteful withdrawals as well as the corresponding financial means.
- Choice of instruments
Proposed instruments: regulation.342
Other means would not be adequate for the following reason(s).
The guide prices and Community producer prices shall be fixed by the Council acting on a qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission. A regulation is required to ensure direct applicability and uniformity throughout the EU.
Since this is a price-fixing exercise, the impact on expenditure is indirect and will largely depend on developments in the market situation and on quantities of fishery products landed.
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