Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/909 of 18 February 2019 establishing the list of mandatory research surveys and thresholds for the purposes of the multiannual Union programme for the collection and management of data in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

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

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2017/1004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2017 on the establishment of a Union framework for the collection, management and use of data in the fisheries sector and support for scientific advice regarding the common fisheries policy and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 199/2008^f1, and in particular the first and third subparagraphs of Article 4(1) thereof,

Whereas:

Pursuant to Article 25 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council^f2, the Member States are to collect biological, environmental, technical and socioeconomic data necessary for fisheries management. The multiannual Union programme for the collection, management and use of data in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors (EU MAP) for the period 2017-2019 was adopted by Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/1251^f3 and will expire on 31 December 2019.

The multiannual Union programme is necessary for Member States to specify and plan their data collection activities in their national work plans. In accordance with Article 21 of Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council^f4 these national work plans are to be submitted to the Commission by 31 October preceding the year from which the work plan is to apply.

In order to prepare the review of the EU MAP after 2019, consultations with experts under the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee on Fisheries, regional coordination groups, Member State representatives and other relevant stakeholders are ongoing and will be finalised only at the end of 2019. As a result, the new EU-MAP taking into account the outcomes of these consultations cannot be adopted before 2021.

For the period from 2020 to 2021 it is, therefore, necessary to adopt the provisions on the list of mandatory research surveys at sea and thresholds below which it is not mandatory for Member States to collect data, included in the current EU MAP, on the basis of Regulation (EU) 2017/1004.

This decision therefore establishes, in accordance with Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1004, the list of mandatory research surveys at sea and thresholds below which it is not mandatory for Member States to collect data based on their fishing and aquaculture activities or carry out surveys at sea, as referred to in Article 5(1)(b) and (c) of that Regulation. Detailed arrangements on the collection and management of biological, environmental, technical and socioeconomic data by Member States, as referred to in Article 5(1)(a) of that Regulation, are provided for by Commission Delegated Decision (EU) 2019/910^f5.

For reasons of legal certainty, Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/1251 should be repealed.

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

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: