Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1496
of 8 October 2018
adding to the 2018 fishing quotas certain quantities withheld in the year 2017 pursuant to Article 4(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 847/96
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 847/96 of 6 May 1996 introducing additional conditions for year-to-year management of TACs and quotas1, and in particular Article 4(2) thereof,
Whereas:
According to Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) No 847/96, Member States may ask the Commission, before 31 October of the year of application of a fishing quota allocated to them, to withhold a maximum of 10 % of that quota to be transferred to the following year. The Commission is to add to the relevant quota the quantity withheld.
Council Regulations (EU) 2016/19032, (EU) 2016/22853, (EU) 2016/23724 and (EU) 2017/1275 fix fishing quotas for certain stocks for 2017 and specify which stocks may be subject to the measures provided for in Regulation (EC) No 847/96.
Council Regulations (EU) 2016/2285, (EU) 2017/19706, (EU) 2017/23607, and (EU) 2018/1208 fix fishing quotas for certain stocks for 2018 and specify which stocks may be subject to the measures provided for in Regulation (EC) No 847/96.
Certain Member States have requested, before 31 October 2017, pursuant to Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) No 847/96, that part of their quotas for 2017 for the stocks listed in the Annex to this Regulation be withheld and transferred to the following year. Within the limits indicated in that Regulation, the quantities withheld should be added to the quotas for 2018.
For the purpose of this flexibility exercise, the eligibility of requested stock transfers and the state of exploitation of these stocks have been taken into account. It is considered that they can be subject to the transfer of quota withheld from 2017 to 2018 in line with Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) No 847/96.
For the stocks listed in the Annex to this Regulation, in order to avoid excessive flexibility that would undermine the principle of rational and responsible exploitation of living marine biological resources, hinder the achievement of the objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy and deteriorate the biological status of the stocks, the year-to-year flexibility provided for by Article 15(9) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council9 is excluded.
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for Fisheries and Aquaculture,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: