xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
1.The Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) shall evaluate:
(a)the conformity of the national programmes and any amendments thereto with Articles 4 and 5; and
(b)the scientific relevance of the data to be covered by national programmes for the purposes laid down in Article 1(1) and the quality of the proposed methods and procedures.
2.If the evaluation by STECF, referred to in paragraph 1, indicates that a national programme does not comply with Articles 4 and 5 or does not guarantee the scientific relevance of the data or sufficient quality of the proposed methods and procedures, the Commission shall immediately inform the Member State concerned and propose amendments to that programme. Subsequently, the Member State concerned shall submit a revised national programme to the Commission.
3.The Commission shall approve the national programmes and the amendments thereto made in accordance with Article 5(2) on the basis of the evaluation by the STECF and the evaluation of costs carried out by its services.