Introductory text

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 of 20 December 2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries Policy^f1, and in particular Article 20 thereof,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 847/96 of 6 May 1996 introducing additional conditions for year-to-year management of TACs and quotas^f2, and in particular Article 2 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Whereas:

Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 requires the Council to adopt the measures necessary to ensure access to waters and resources and the sustainable pursuit of fishing activities taking account of available scientific advice and, in particular, the report prepared by the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries.

Pursuant to Article 20 of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002, it is incumbent upon the Council to establish fishing opportunity limits by fishery or group of fisheries and to allocate these opportunities to Member States.

In order to ensure effective management of the fishing opportunities, the specific conditions under which fishing operations are carried out should be established.

The principles as well as certain procedures for fishery management need to be laid down at Community level, so that Member States can ensure the management of the vessels flying their flag.

Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 lays down definitions relevant to the allocation of fishing opportunities.

In accordance with Article 2 of Council Regulation (EC) No 847/96, the stocks that are subject to the various measures referred to therein must be identified.

Fishing opportunities should be used in accordance with Community legislation on the subject, and in particular with Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1381/87 of 20 May 1987 establishing detailed rules concerning the marking and documentation of fishing vessels^f3, Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2807/83 of 22 September 1983 laying down detailed rules for recording information on Member States' catches of fish^f4, Council Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 of 12 October 1993 establishing a control system applicable to the common fisheries policy^f5, Commission Regulation (EC) No 2244/2003 of 18 December 2003 laying down detailed provisions regarding satellite-based Vessel Monitoring Systems^f6, and Council Regulation (EEC) No 2930/86 of 22 September 1986 defining characteristics for fishing vessels^f7, Council Regulation (EEC) No 3880/91 of 17 December 1991 on the submission of nominal catch statistics by Member States fishing in the north-east Atlantic^f8 and Council Regulation (EC) No 2187/2005 of 21 December 2005 for the conservation of fishery resources through technical measures in the Baltic Sea, the Belts and the Sound^f9.

In order to contribute to the conservation of fish stocks, certain supplementary measures on the control and technical conditions of fishing should be implemented in 2007,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: