THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 43(2) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,
After consulting the European Economic and Social Committee,
Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure,
Whereas:
(1)
On 29 March 2017, the United Kingdom submitted the notification of its intention to withdraw from the Union pursuant to Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU).
(2)
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 (‘Withdrawal Agreement’) contains arrangements for the application of provisions of Union law to and in the United Kingdom beyond the date on which the Treaties cease to apply to and in the United Kingdom. The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) applies to and in the United Kingdom during the transition period in accordance with the Withdrawal Agreement and will cease to apply on 31 December 2020.
(3)
When the CFP ceases to apply to and in the United Kingdom, United Kingdom waters (territorial sea and adjacent exclusive economic zone) will no longer be part of Union waters. Consequently, in the absence of an agreement between the Union and the United Kingdom containing provisions on fisheries, Union and United Kingdom fishing vessels risk not having the possibility to utilise fully the fishing opportunities that might be made available for 2021.
(4)
To ensure the sustainability of fisheries and in view of the importance of fisheries for the economic livelihood of many communities in the Union and in the United Kingdom, the possibility of arrangements for continued reciprocal access by Union and United Kingdom fishing vessels to each other’s waters after 31 December 2020 should be maintained. The purpose of this Regulation is to create the appropriate legal framework for such reciprocal access.
(5)
The territorial scope of this Regulation and any reference to the United Kingdom therein does not include Gibraltar.
(6)
The fishing opportunities for the year 2021 are to be established by the Union and the United Kingdom in full compliance with the requirements set out in Articles 61 and 62 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. To ensure sustainable exploitation of marine living resources and stability within Union waters and United Kingdom waters, the quota allocations and shares for the Member States and the United Kingdom are to be set in accordance with the respective applicable law of the Union and of the United Kingdom.
(7)
In view of the long-standing fishing patterns of United Kingdom fishing vessels in Union waters and vice versa and in order to obtain reciprocal access to waters, the Union should provide for a mechanism for United Kingdom fishing vessels to access Union waters by means of authorisations, in order to be able to fish the quota shares that will be allocated to the United Kingdom, under the same conditions that apply to Union fishing vessels. Such fishing authorisations should only be granted if and to the extent that the United Kingdom continues to provide authorisations for Union fishing vessels to continue fishing within United Kingdom waters.
(8)
Regulation (EU) 2017/2403 of the European Parliament and of the Council sets out the rules for issuing and managing fishing authorisations for fishing vessels in waters under the sovereignty or jurisdiction of a third country and for third country fishing vessels conducting fishing operations in Union waters.
(9)
Regulation (EU) 2017/2403 lays down rules for fishing operations carried out by Union fishing vessels in the waters of a third country outside the framework of an agreement and provides that a flag Member State may grant direct authorisations and establishes the conditions and procedures for the granting of such authorisations. Given the number of Union fishing vessels that carry out fishing activities in United Kingdom waters, those conditions and procedures would lead to considerable delays and an increased administrative burden in the absence of an agreement between the Union and the United Kingdom containing provisions on fisheries. It is therefore necessary to provide for specific conditions and procedures to facilitate the issuing of authorisations to Union fishing vessels by the United Kingdom for the operation of fishing activities in United Kingdom waters.
(10)
It is necessary to derogate from the rules that apply to third country fishing vessels and provide for specific conditions and procedures allowing for the issuing of authorisations to United Kingdom fishing vessels by the Union for the operation of fishing activities in Union waters.
(11)
Regulation (EU) 2017/2403 should therefore be amended accordingly.
(12)
The transition period provided for in the Withdrawal Agreement ends on 31 December 2020. In the absence of the conclusion of an agreement between the Union and the United Kingdom containing provisions on fisheries, this Regulation should enter into force as a matter of urgency on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union and should apply from the day following that on which Union law ceases to apply to and in the United Kingdom pursuant to Articles 126 and 127 of the Withdrawal Agreement. As a contingency measure, it should apply until the earliest of the following dates: 31 December 2021 or the date on which an agreement between the Union and the United Kingdom containing provisions on fisheries enters into force or provisionally applies.
(13)
In view of the need to adopt this Regulation before the day on which Union law ceases to apply to and in the United Kingdom pursuant to Articles 126 and 127 of the Withdrawal Agreement, and the need to provide for procedures for authorising sustainable fishing operations in United Kingdom and Union waters on the basis of reciprocity at the latest by that day, to avoid an abrupt discontinuation of fishing operations, it was considered to be appropriate to provide for an exception to the eight-week period referred to in Article 4 of Protocol No 1 on the role of national Parliaments in the Union, annexed to the TEU, to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community.
(14)
In order to enable both Union and United Kingdom operators to continue to fish, fishing authorisations for fishing activities in Union waters should only be granted to United Kingdom fishing vessels if and in so far as the Commission satisfies itself that the United Kingdom grants access rights to Union fishing vessels to conduct fishing operations in United Kingdom waters on the basis of reciprocity,
HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: