PURPOSE: to introduce a targeted amendment to Regulation (EU) No 1026/2012 on certain measures for the purpose of the conservation of fish stocks in relation to countries allowing non-sustainable fishing.

PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.

BACKGROUND: as provided in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 (UNCLOS) and in the United Nations Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks of 4 August 1995 (UNFSA), the management of certain shared, straddling and highly migratory fish stocks requires the cooperation of all the countries in whose waters the stock occurs and the countries whose fleets exploit that stock.

Regulation (EU) 1026/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on certain measures for the purpose of the conservation of fish stocks in relation to countries allowing non-sustainable fishing lays down a framework for the EU to adopt certain measures regarding the fisheries-related activities and policies of third countries which allow non-sustainable fishing in order to ensure the long-term conservation of stocks of common interest to the Union and those third countries. Such measures can include identifying a country as a country allowing non-sustainable fishing and imposing quantitative restrictions on importations of fish from the stock of common interest that have been caught under the control of that country and on importations of fishery products made of or containing such fish.

CONTENT: this proposal is a targeted amendment to Regulation (EU) 1026/2012 and is mostly aimed at clarifying certain elements of the conditions to trigger the identification of a country as allowing unsustainable fishing , for increased legal certainty. The amendment is also intended to clarify and reinforce the process for cooperation before and after the EU takes measures, with the ultimate goal to obtain the cessation of non-sustainable fishing practices as soon as possible.

More specifically, the proposed regulation:

- introduces a definition of ‘failure to cooperate’ to better define, for the purposes of Regulation (EU) No 1026/2012, the scope and meaning of the requirement to cooperate pursuant to UNCLOS and UNFSA.

- clarifies that a country may be considered to allow non-sustainable fishing if it does not implement the necessary measures, and that such measures include control measures;

- reinforces the procedures prior and subsequent to the adoption of measures in respect to countries allowing non-sustainable fishing.