Commission Decision of 16 December 2009 on a Community financial contribution for 2009 towards expenditure incurred by Member States for certain projects in the field of fisheries control, inspection and surveillance (notified under document C(2009) 9935) (Only the Danish, German, Greek, Spanish, Italian, Latvian, Dutch, Portuguese, Romanian, Swedish and English texts are authentic) (2009/977/EU)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 861/2006 of 22 May 2006 establishing Community financial measures for the implementation of the common fisheries policy and in the area of the Law of the Sea^f1, and in particular Article 21 thereof,

Whereas:

Based upon the requests for Community co-finance that have been submitted by Member States in their fisheries control programmes for 2009, the Commission has adopted Decision 2009/746/EC^f2, which has left some of the 2009 budget available for fisheries control unconsumed.

That unconsumed part of the 2009 budget should now be allocated by a new Decision.

In conformity with Article 21(2) of Regulation (EC) No 861/2006, Member States have been asked to submit requests for additional funding related to the priority areas defined by the Commission, i.e. automation and management of data, new technologies, and seminars in the area of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

On that basis and given budgetary constraints, requests for Community funding related to actions such as pilot projects, as well as the construction of patrol vessels and aircrafts, have been rejected since they were not dedicated to the priority areas defined above.

Applications concerning actions listed in Article 8(a) of Regulation (EC) No 861/2006 may qualify for Community funding.

Applications for Community funding are to comply with the rules set out in Commission Regulation (EC) No 391/2007^f3.

It is appropriate to fix the maximum amounts and the rate of the Community financial contribution within the limits set by Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 861/2006 and to lay down the conditions under which such contribution may be granted.

In order to encourage investment in the priority actions defined by the Commission and in view of the negative impact of the financial crisis on Member States’ budgets, expenditure related to the abovementioned priority areas should benefit from a high co-financing rate, within the limits laid down in Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 861/2006.

In order to qualify for the contribution, automatic localisation devices should satisfy the requirements fixed by Commission Regulation (EC) No 2244/2003 of 18 December 2003 laying down detailed provisions regarding satellite-based Vessel Monitoring Systems^f4.

In order to qualify for the contribution, electronic recording and reporting devices on board fishing vessels should satisfy the requirements laid down by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1077/2008 of 3 November 2008 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1966/2006 on electronic recording and reporting of fishing activities and on means of remote sensing and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1566/2007^f5.

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for Fisheries and Aquaculture,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: