Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2013)417 - Amendment of certain Regulations in the field of fisheries and animal health by reason of the change of status of Mayotte with regard to the Union - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(2013)417 - Amendment of certain Regulations in the field of fisheries and animal health by reason of the change of status of Mayotte ... |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2013)417  |
| date | 13-06-2013 |
By Decision 2012/419/EUi, the European Council amended the status of Mayotte with regard to the Union with effect from 1 January 2014. Therefore, from that date Mayotte will cease to be an overseas territory to become an outermost region within the meaning of Articles 349 and 355(1) TFEU. Union law will apply to Mayotte from 1 January 2014.
This proposal takes account of requests made by the French authorities, to have the Union acquis amended through specific measures applicable to Mayotte in different areas, such as fisheries and animal health.
The examination of the situation regarding Mayotte has revealed that it is necessary to protect the sensitive biological situation of its waters and therefore to include the waters around Mayotte within the scope of application of Regulation (EC) No 850/98 of 30 March 1998 for the conservation of fishery resources through technical measures for the protection of juveniles of marine organism. . In certain respects, France needs additional time to comply with the Union acquis with regard to Mayotte. This goes in particular to the registering and control obligations in the area of fisheries, to the extent it concerns certain vessels dispersed around the island and not associated to a specific landing site.
In the area of animal health, it appears justified to grant additional time to comply with Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 laying down health rules as regards animal by-products and derived products not intended for human consumption and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002, since Mayotte has currently no industrial capacity for the processing of animal by-products.
In the interest of simplicity and speediness, it has been considered expedient not to resort to individual proposals for each of the acts concerned but, where legally possible, to bundle the amendments to several acts in a single proposal. The amendments proposed in the present document all relate to Regulations and fall under the ordinary legislative procedure (Articles 289(1) and 294 TFEU).
Contents
The Commission has not used an impact assessment. However, when examining the various issues and in particular the requests made by France, it had contacts with representatives of national and regional authorities in order to better evaluate the grounds of the specific measures.
In accordance with Article 43(2) TFEU, the European Parliament and the Council are empowered to define the provisions necessary for the pursuit of the objectives of the common fisheries policy.
Under this legal basis, it is proposed to amend four Council Regulations in the areas of fisheries, having regard to the particular situation of Mayotte as summarised above and set out in detail in the draft recitals:
- Council Regulation (EC) No 850/98 of 30 March 1998 in order to include the waters around Mayotte and to prohibit the use of purse-seines on tuna and tuna-like schools of fish inside the area within 24 miles from the baselines of the island in order to preserve the shoals of large migratory fish in the vicinity of the island of Mayotte;
- Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 of 17 December 1999 on the common organisation of the markets in fishery and aquaculture products
- Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 of 20 December 2002 in order to introduce specific measures with respect to the fleet register and the access regime;
- Council Regulation (EC) No 639/2004 of 30 March 2004 in order to introduce the development plan presented by France to the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) as a reference for the capacity of the fleet registered in the ports of Mayotte and to allow France to increase its fleet up to the objectives of the said development plan;
- Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 of 20 November 2009 in order to provide for transitional measures and temporary derogations from certain rules concerning the control of fishing vessels in view of progressively comply with all the Union control obligations and objectives of that Regulation.
Pursuant to Article 168(4)(b) TFEU, the European Parliament and the Council are entitled to adopt measures in the veterinary and phytosanitary fields which have as their direct objective the protection of public health.
Under this legal basis, it is proposed to modify Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 in order to grant France a transitional period of five years with regard to Mayotte, allowing it to establish the infrastructure necessary for the identification, handling, transport, treatment and disposal of animal by-products.
The proposal has no impact on the budget of the European Union.