Introductory text

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 299(2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

After consulting the European Economic and Social Committee,

After consulting the Committee of the Regions,

Whereas:

Council Regulation (EC) No 704/2002^f1 among others opened and provided for the administration of autonomous Community tariff quotas on imports of certain fishery products into the Canary Islands for the period 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2006.

Council Regulation (EC) No 791/2007^f2 introduced a new scheme to compensate for the additional costs incurred in the marketing of certain fishery products from the outermost regions of the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands, French Guiana and Réunion.

The exceptional geographical situation of the Canary Islands in relation to the sources of supply of certain fishery products which are essential for domestic consumption entails additional costs for this sector. This natural handicap, as recognised in Article 299(2) of the Treaty, resulting from insularity, remoteness and outermost location can be remedied, inter alia, by temporarily suspending customs duties on imports of the products in question from third countries within Community tariff quotas of an appropriate volume.

The Spanish authorities submitted on 29 July 2004 and 19 July 2006 reports on implementation of the measures referred in Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 704/2002 and requested the extension of those measures for the period 2007-13. The Commission has examined, on the basis of the aforementioned reports, the impact of the measures adopted on imports of certain fishery products into the Canary Islands.

The reports provided by the Spanish authorities indicated that the quotas opened by Regulation (EC) No 704/2002 were not exhausted.

Tariff quotas similar to those opened with Regulation (EC) No 704/2002 for certain fishery products are warranted because they would cover the needs of the Canary Islands’ domestic market, while ensuring that flows of reduced-duty imports into the Community remain predictable and clearly identifiable.

Since the quotas opened by Regulation (EC) No 704/2002 were not exhausted, it is appropriate to set the quantity of the quotas at a lower level.

In order to avoid undermining the integrity and the coherence of the internal market, measures should be taken to ensure that fishery products for which suspension is granted are intended solely for the Canary Islands’ domestic market.

Measures must be taken to ensure that the Commission is kept regularly informed of the volume of imports in question so that, if necessary, it can take steps to prevent any speculative movement or deflection of trade.

The measures necessary for the implementation of this Regulation should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission^f3.

Moreover, in order to ensure coherence with the scheme introduced by Regulation (EC) No 791/2007 the tariff quotas should be opened for the period 2007-13 and in order to ensure continuity with the measures set out in Regulation (EC) No 704/2002, it is appropriate to apply the measures provided for in this Regulation from 1 January 2007,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: