THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 861/2006 of 22 May 2006 establishing Community financial measures for the implementation of the common fisheries policy and in the area of the Law of the Sea(1), and in particular Article 21 thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Member States have submitted to the Commission their fisheries control programme for 2012, in accordance with Article 20 of Regulation (EC) No 861/2006, inclusive of the applications for a Union financial contribution towards the expenditure to be incurred in carrying out the projects contained in such programme.
(2) Applications concerning actions listed in Article 8(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 861/2006 may qualify for Union funding.
(3) The applications for Union funding have been assessed with regard to their compliance with the rules set out in Commission Regulation (EC) No 391/2007(2).
(4) It is appropriate to fix the maximum amounts and the rate of the Union financial contribution within the limits set by Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 861/2006 and to lay down the conditions under which such contribution may be granted.
(5) In conformity with Article 21(2) of Regulation (EC) No 861/2006, Member States have been asked to submit programs related to funding in the priority areas defined by the Commission in its letter of 14 October 2011, i.e. traceability, validation and cross-checking of data, measurement of engine power, equipment of small scale fleet with Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) and Electronic Recording and Reporting Systems (ERS).
(6) On that basis and given budgetary constraints, requests in the programs for Union funding related to non-priority actions such as installation of Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) on board fishing vessels, training and initiatives raising awareness of CFP rules as well as the purchase or modernisation of fisheries patrol vessels and aircraft were rejected.
(7) In order to encourage investment in the priority actions defined by the Commission and in view of the negative impact of the financial crisis on Member States’ budgets, expenditure related to the abovementioned priority areas and retained for this financing decision should benefit from a high co-financing rate, within the limits laid down in Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 861/2006.
(8) Within the priority areas defined by the Commission, it appeared that projects on traceability that were presented by Member States required a global and coordinated approach among Member States to be put in place before a Union contribution could be granted. The assessment of these traceability projects for a Union contribution was consequently postponed to an additional financing decision to be prepared in 2012.
(9) In order to qualify for the contribution, automatic localisation devices should satisfy the requirements fixed by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011 of 8 April 2011 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy(3)
(10) In order to qualify for the contribution, electronic recording and reporting devices on board fishing vessels should satisfy the requirements fixed by Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011.
(11) The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for Fisheries and Aquaculture,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: