In order to contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy (hereinafter: CFP), specified in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, financial assistance is approved by the Union within the European Marine and Fisheries Fund.
Conditions for financial assistance to Member States:
Subject to the conditions set out in the applicable Union legal acts, Union financial assistance to Member States shall be conditional upon compliance with the CFP rules by operators. Non-compliance by Member States with the CFP rules may result in an interruption or suspension of payments or in the application of a financial correction to Union financial assistance under the CFP. Such measures are proportionate to the nature, gravity, duration and repetition of the non-compliance.
Attainment of the objectives of the CFP should not be at risk because of the Member States violating the provisions of the CFP. Pursuant to Article 41 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 financial assistance from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund is conditional upon compliance with the CFP rules by Member States. Non-compliance by Member States with the CFP rules may result in an interruption or suspension of payments or in the application of a financial correction to Union financial assistance under the CFP. Where a Member State has failed to comply with its obligations under the CFP, or where the Commission has evidence that suggests such a lack of compliance, the Commission is allowed, as a precautionary measure, to interrupt payment deadlines in accordance with Article 100 of Regulation (EU) 508/2014 in order to safeguard the financial interests of the Union and its taxpayers. In addition to the possibility of interruption of the payment deadline, and in order to avoid an evident risk of paying out ineligible expenditure, the Commission is allowed to suspend payments in cases of serious non-compliance with the CFP rules by a Member State in accordance with Article 101 of Regulation (EU) No 508/2014.
The examples of non-compliance of a Member State with the CFP rules, which may result in an interruption of interim payment in accordance with Article 100 of Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 are given in the table below.
The examples of serious non-compliance of a Member State with the CFP rules, which may result in a suspension of payments in accordance with Article 101 of Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 are given in the table below, provided that: a) they result in an interruption of the payment deadline for an interim payment under Article 100 of Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 and b) the Member State failed to adopt the necessary measures to improve the situation within the period of the interruption of payments relating to such cases.
Category 1: Failure to contribute to the objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy as set out in Article 2(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 that are essential to the conservation of marine biological resources
1.1 Failure to ensure that fishing opportunities allocated to the Member State pursuant to Articles 16 and 17 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 are respected.
1.2 Failure to meet requirements set out in different types of conservation measures listed in Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013.
Category 2: Failure to meet international obligations on conservation
2.1 Failure to meet obligations deriving from Article 28 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013.
Category 3: Failure to ensure that the fleet is in balance with the natural resources
3.1 Failure to submit the report on the balance between the fishing capacity of the fleet and the fishing opportunities that complies with all the requirements of Article 22(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013.
3.2 Failure to implement the action plan pursuant to Article 22(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, if such a plan is included into the report submitted annually.
3.3 Failure to ensure that in case of fishing capacity withdrawn by public finances, respective fishing licences for commercial fishing and fishing authorisations are withdrawn in advance and the capacity is not replaced as referred to in Article 22(5) and (6) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013.
3.4 Failure to ensure that the fishing capacity does not exceed at any time the ceilings set out in Article 22(7) and Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013.
3.5 Failure to implement the entry/exit scheme pursuant to the requirements of Article 23 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013.
3.6 Failure to manage the fishing fleet register in compliance with Article 24 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 26/2004.
Category 4: Failure to implement the Community framework for the collection, management and use of data in line with Article 25 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, as further specified in Council Regulation (EC) No 199/2008, which results in a lack of information on natural resources
4.1 Failure to collect and manage biological, environmental, technical and socioeconomic data necessary for fisheries management as set out in Articles 4, 13 and 17 of Regulation (EC) No 199/2008.
4.2 Failure to submit annually a report on execution of national data collection programmes and to make this report publicly available as set out in Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 199/2008.
4.3 Failure to ensure a national coordination of the collection and management of scientific data for fisheries management as set out in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 199/2008.
4.4 Failure to coordinate data collection activities with other Member States in the same region as set out in Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 199/2008.
4.5 Failure to provide data in a timely manner to end-users in accordance with Articles 18 and 20 of Regulation (EC) No 199/2008.
Category 5: Failure to operate an effective control and enforcement system
5.1 Failure to respect the general principles of control and enforcement in accordance with Title II of Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.
5.2 Failure to ensure that the general conditions for access to waters and resources in accordance with Title III of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 are respected.
5.3 Failure to control the marketing in order to ensure effective traceability of fisheries and aquaculture products, in accordance with Title V of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.
5.4 Failure to carry-out effective surveillance and inspections, and to ensure systematic and adequate enforcement action in respect of any breaches of the rules of the CFP, in accordance with Titles VI, VII and VIII of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.
5.5 Failure to establish and implement National Control Action Programmes according to Article 46 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 and, when relevant, to carry out specific control and inspection programmes established by the Commission in accordance with Title IX of that Regulation.
5.6 Failure to cooperate with the Commission in order to facilitate the accomplishment of the Commission officials' tasks during their missions of verification, autonomous inspections and audits in accordance with Title X of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.
5.7 Failure to implement the measures decided by the Commission to ensure compliance by Member States with CFP objectives, such as action plans and any other measures in accordance with Title XI of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.
5.8 Failure to meet the requirements as regards analysis, validation, access and exchange of data and information, in accordance with Title XII of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.
5.9 Failure to control the implementation of an effective catch certificate scheme also provided for in Chapter III of Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008.
5.10 Failure to act on alleged or reported illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities pursuant to Article 26(3) and Articles 39 and 40 of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008.
Category 6: Failure to establish and operate a functioning system of effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties
6.1 In the event of an infringement, failure to notify the flag Member State, the Member State of which the offender holds the citizenship and any other Member State interested in the follow-up of the measures taken to ensure compliance in accordance with Article 89(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.
6.2 Failure to take immediate measures in accordance with Article 91 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 to prevent masters of fishing vessels or other legal or natural persons who had been caught in committing serious infringement, from continuing to do so.
6.3 Failure to establish the criteria to determine the serious character of the infringement of the CFP rules under Article 42 of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008.
6.4 Failure to ensure that effective sanctions are applied systematically for breaches of CFP rules and that the level of those sanctions is adequate in severity and proportionate to the seriousness of such infringements, so as to ensure deterrence and, as a minimum, effectively deprive perpetrators of the economic benefit derived from their infringement in accordance with Title VIII of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.
6.5 Failure to apply the point system for serious infringements for holders of fishing licences as well as for masters in accordance with Article 92 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.
6.6 Failure to establish and adequately manage the national register of infringements in accordance with Article 93 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.
Conditions for financial assistance to operators:
Subject to the conditions specified in the applicable Union legal acts, Union financial assistance to operators shall be conditional upon compliance with the CFP rules by operators.
Subject to specific rules to be adopted, serious infringements by operators of the CFP rules shall result in temporary or permanent bans on access to the Union financial assistance and/or the application of financial reductions. Such measures, taken by the Member State, shall be dissuasive, effective and proportionate to the nature, gravity, duration and repetition of serious infringements.
Member States shall ensure that Union financial assistance is granted only if no penalties for serious infringements have been imposed on the operator concerned within a period of one year prior to the date of application for Union financial assistance.
An application submitted by an operator for support from the EMFF shall be inadmissible for an identified period of time laid down pursuant to paragraph 4 of Article 10 of Regulation (EU) No 508/2014/EU, if it has been determined by the competent authority that the operator concerned:
a) has committed a serious infringement under Article 42 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 or Article 90(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009;
b) has been involved in the operation, management or ownership of fishing vessels included in the Union IUU vessel list as set out in Article 40(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008, or of vessels flagged to countries identified as non-cooperating third countries as set out in Article 33 of that Regulation;
c) has committed a serious infringement of the CFP rules identified as such in other legislation adopted by the European Parliament and by the Council; or
d) has committed any of the offences set out in Articles 3 and 4 of Directive 2008/99/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, where the application is made for support under another Union priority (aquaculture).
The beneficiary, after submitting the application, shall continue to comply with the conditions referred to in points (a) to (d) throughout the period of implementation of the operation and for a period of five years after the final payment to that beneficiary.
An application for financial assistance from the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) or the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) submitted by an operator shall be inadmissible for an identified period of time laid down pursuant to paragraph 4 of Article 10 of Regulation (EU) 508/2014 if it has been determined by the competent authority that that operator has committed a fraud, as defined in Article 1 of the Convention on the Protection of the European Communities’ Financial Interests.
Member States shall require that operators submitting an application under the EMFF provide to the managing authority a signed statement confirming that they respect the criteria listed above and declaring that they have not committed a fraud under the EFF or the EMFF. Member States shall verify the veracity of that statement before approving the operation, based on the information available in the national register of infringements referred to in Article 93 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, or any other available data.
LEGAL GROUNDWORK:
Regulation 508/2014/EU – Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2328/2003, (EC) No 861/2006, (EC) No 1198/2006 and (EC) No 791/2007 and Regulation (EU) No 1255/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council
Regulation 1380/2013/EU – Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy, amending Council Regulations (EC) No 1954/2003 and (EC) No 1224/2009 and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2371/2002 and (EC) No 639/2004 and Council Decision 2004/585/EC
Regulation 852/2015/EU – COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) No 2015/852 of 27 March 2015 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the cases of non-compliance and the cases of serious non-compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy that may lead to an interruption of a payment deadline or suspension of payments under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund
Regulation 288/2015/EU – COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) No 2015/288 of 17 December 2014 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund with regard to the period of time and the dates for the inadmissibility of applications
