Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1395/2014 is amended as follows:

1. (1)

   in Article 3, the heading is replaced by the following: ‘De minimis exemption in the years 2015 and 2016’;

2. (2)

   the following Article 3a is inserted:

   Article 3aDe minimis exemption in the years 2018, 2019 and 2020

   By way of derogation from Article 15(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, up to a maximum of 1 % of the total annual catches of mackerel, horse mackerel, herring and whiting in the pelagic fishery carried out by pelagic trawlers up to 25 metres in length overall, using mid-water trawls (OTM/PTM), and targeting mackerel, horse mackerel and herring in ICES divisions IVb and c south of 54 degrees north, may be discarded in 2018, 2019 and 2020.

3. (3)

   in Article 5 the second paragraph is replaced by the following:

   It shall apply from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2020.

4. (4)

   the Annex is replaced by the text in the Annex to this Regulation.

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from 1 January 2018.