Commission Regulation (EC) No 498/2007 of 26 March 2007 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006 on the European Fisheries Fund

CHAPTER I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

Subject matter

This Regulation lays down detailed rules for the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006 (the basic Regulation) as regards the following:

(a) the structure and transmission of operational programmes;

(b) fisheries measures;

(c) the evaluation of operational programmes;

(d) information and publicity;

(e) financial engineering instruments;

(f) management, monitoring and control;

(g) irregularities;

(h) electronic exchange of data;

(i) personal data.

Article 2

Specific arrangements for certain operational programmes

For operational programmes for which the total eligible public expenditure does not exceed EUR 90 million at 2004 prices, specific arrangements are laid down in Article 28(2) and Articles 51, 52 and 53.

CHAPTER II

STRUCTURE AND TRANSMISSION OF THE OPERATIONAL PROGRAMMES

Article 3

Structure and transmission of the operational programmes

The content of the operational programme, referred to in Article 20 of the basic Regulation, shall be established in accordance with Part A of Annex I to this Regulation and the financing plan as set out in Part B of that Annex.

The ex ante evaluation, referred to in Article 48 of the basic Regulation, shall be annexed to the operational programme.

CHAPTER III

PRIORITY AXES

SECTION 1

Priority axis 1: Measures for the adaptation of the Community fishing fleet

Article 4

Public aid for permanent cessation of fishing activities

Article 5

Public aid for the temporary cessation of fishing activities

Article 6

Investments on board fishing vessels and selectivity

The 20 % reduction in engine power may be achieved by a group of vessels as provided for in Article 25(4) of the basic Regulation, subject to all the following conditions:

(a) all the vessels belonging to the same group are individually identified;

(b) all the vessels belonging to the same group operate in the same management areas;

(c) all the vessels belonging to the same group use the same main fishing gear as listed in Appendix III (section C) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1639/2001 (¹²);

(d) all the vessels belonging to the same group do not exceed fifty in number.

Article 7

Small-scale coastal fishing

Article 8

Socio-economic compensation for the management of the Community fishing fleet

SECTION 2

Priority axis 2: Aquaculture, inland fishing, processing and marketing of fishery and aquaculture products

Article 9

Scope of intervention in aquaculture production

Support under Article 28(6) of the basic Regulation may cover the costs of assessments provided for in Council Directive 85/337/EEC (¹⁵).

Article 10

Measures for productive investments in aquaculture

For the purpose of Article 29(1)(a), (b) and (c) of the basic Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:

(a) ‘new species’: species for which aquaculture production in the Member State is low or non-existent and for which there are good market prospects;

(b) ‘species with good market prospects’: species for which the forecast medium-term trend shows that market demand is likely to exceed supply;

(c) ‘normal practice in the aquaculture sector’: aquaculture activities carried out in compliance with binding legislation, whether it relates to health, veterinary or environmental matters;

(d) ‘traditional aquaculture’: time-honoured practices which are linked to the social and cultural heritage of a given area.

Article 11

Aqua-environmental measures

Article 12

Animal health measures

Support provided for in Article 32 of the basic Regulation, may cover:

(a) for exotic diseases in aquaculture as listed in Article 3 of Council Decision 90/424/EEC (¹⁸), the control measures applied pursuant to Section 3 of Chapter V of Directive 2006/88/EC;

(b) for non-exotic diseases in aquaculture as listed in the Annex of Decision 90/424/EEC, eradication programmes drawn up and approved pursuant to Article 44(2) of Directive 2006/88/EC.

Article 13

Inland fishing

Article 14

Investments in processing and marketing

SECTION 3

Priority axis 3: Measures of common interest

Article 15

Collective actions

Support provided for in point (n) of the first paragraph of Article 37 of the basic Regulation may be granted for:

(a) the creation of producer organisations in order to facilitate the setting up and administrative operation of producer's organisation recognised under Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 (¹⁹) after 1 January 2007;

(b) the implementation of plans of producer organisations that have been specifically recognised under Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 in order to facilitate the implementation of their plans to improve the quality of their products; or

(c) the restructuring of producers' organisations in order to increase their efficiency in line with market requirements.

Article 16

Measures intended to protect and develop aquatic fauna and flora

Support provided for in point (a) of the first subparagraph of Article 38(2) of the basic Regulation shall concern measures for the construction and installation of artificial reefs or other facilities made up of long lasting elements.

Support may cover work preliminary to installation, including studies, components, signalling, transport and the assembly of the facilities and scientific monitoring.

Article 17

Landing sites

Where support is given for investments to restructure landing sites and to improve the conditions for fish landed by coastal fishers in existing landing sites, as provided for in the second subparagraph of Article 39(1) of the basic Regulation, Member States shall ensure compliance with the relevant sanitary rules and the enforcement of control measures in those landing sites.

Article 18

Development of new markets and promotional campaigns

Support provided for promotional measures, as provided for in Article 40(3)(a), (d), (e) and (g) of the basic Regulation, may cover in particular:

(a) the costs of advertising agencies and other service providers involved in the preparation and implementation of promotional campaigns;

(b) the purchase or hire of advertising space and the creation of slogans and labels for the duration of promotional campaigns;

(c) expenditure on publishing and external staff, required for the campaigns;

(d) the organisation of and participation in trade fairs and exhibitions.

Article 19

Pilot projects

Article 20

Modification for reassignment of fishing vessels

Support, as provided for in Article 42 of the basic Regulation, may be granted for the modification of a fishing vessel after its reassignment only if that vessel has been deleted permanently from the fishing fleet register and, where appropriate, the fishing licence associated with it has been permanently cancelled.

SECTION 4

Priority axis 4: Sustainable development of fisheries areas

Article 21

Objectives and measures

The support granted under Article 43 of the basic Regulation shall be for:

(a) implementing local development strategies as referred to in Article 45(2) of the basic Regulation and Article 24 of this Regulation with a view to achieving the objectives referred to in Article 43(2)(a), (b) and (c) of the basic Regulation and through the eligible measures provided for in Article 44(1)(a) to (g), (i) and (j) and Article 44(2) and (3) of that Regulation;

(b) implementing inter-regional and trans-national cooperation among the groups in fisheries areas as referred to in Article 44(1)(h) of the basic Regulation, mainly through networking and disseminating best practices with a view to achieving the objective referred to in Article 43(2)(d) of that Regulation.

Article 22

Geographical application of Priority axis 4

Article 23

Procedures and criteria for selecting the groups

A group, as referred to in Article 45(1) of the basic Regulation, shall be composed in such a way that it is able to draw up and implement a development strategy in the area concerned.

The relevance and effectiveness of the partnership shall be assessed on the basis its composition, as well as its transparency and clarity in the allocation of tasks and responsibilities.

The capacity of the partners to carry out the tasks assigned to them and the effectiveness and decision-making shall be guaranteed.

The partnership shall comprise, including at the decision-making level, representatives of the fisheries sector and of other relevant local socio-economic sectors.

The administrative capacity of the group shall be considered adequate where the group:

(a) either selects from the partnership, one partner as the administrative leader who will guarantee the satisfactory operation of the partnership; or

(b) comes together in a legally constituted common structure, the formal constitution of which guarantees the satisfactory operation of the partnership.

If the group is entrusted with the administration of public funds, its financial capacity shall be assessed:

(a) with regard to paragraph 2(a), in terms of the ability of the administrative leader to administer the funds;

(b) with regard to paragraph 2(b), in terms of the ability of the common structure to administer the funds.

The operational programme shall specify:

(a) the procedures and the criteria for selecting the groups, as well as the number of groups that the Member State intends to select; the selection criteria referred to in Article 45 of the basic Regulation and in this Article shall constitute a minimum and may be supplemented by specific national criteria; the procedures shall be transparent, provide adequate publicity and ensure competition where applicable, between the groups putting forward local development strategies;

(b) the management arrangements and the procedures for the mobilisation and circulation of financial flows as far as the beneficiary; it shall describe in particular how the groups are integrated into the management, monitoring and control systems.

Article 24

Local development strategy

The local development strategy proposed by the group in accordance with Article 45(2) of the basic Regulation shall:

(a) be integrated and be based on interaction between actors, sectors and operations and go beyond a mere collection of operations or a juxtaposition of sectoral measures;

(b) be consistent with the needs of the fisheries area particularly in socio-economic terms;

(c) prove its sustainability;

(d) be complementary to other interventions made in the area concerned.

Article 25

Implementing local development Strategy

SECTION 5

Common provisions for several measures

Article 26

Common provisions for priority axes 1 to 4

The following expenditure shall not be eligible for a contribution from EFF:

(a) for the purposes of the Articles 28(3) and 34(3), point (i) of the first paragraph of Article 37 and Article 44(2) of the basic Regulation, the purchase of infrastructure used for lifelong learning for an amount exceeding 10 % of total eligible expenditure of the operation concerned;

(b) the part of the cost of vehicles not directly linked to the operation concerned.

CHAPTER IV

EVALUATION OF THE OPERATIONAL PROGRAMMES

Article 27

Interim evaluations

Member States shall forward the interim evaluations referred to in Article 49 of the basic Regulation by 30 June 2011 at the latest. The Commission may decide to interrupt the payment deadline, in accordance with Article 88 of the basic Regulation, where a Member State has not complied with that obligation.

CHAPTER V

INFORMATION AND PUBLICITY

Article 28

Description of the information and publicity measures in the operational programme and in the annual and final reports on implementation

For the purpose of Article 20(1)(g)(v) of the basic Regulation, the operational programme shall include at least the following elements:

(a) the content of the information and publicity measures to be taken by the Member State or the managing authority aimed at potential beneficiaries and beneficiaries and their indicative budget;

(b) the content of the information and publicity measures to be taken by the Member State or the Managing authority for the public and their indicative budget;

(c) the administrative departments or bodies responsible for the implementation of information and publicity measures;

(d) an indication of how the information and publicity measures are to be evaluated in terms of visibility and awareness of the operational programme and of the role played by the Community.

The annual reports and final report on implementation of an operational programme, referred to in Article 67 of the basic Regulation, shall include:

(a) information and publicity measures carried out;

(b) the arrangements for the information and publicity measures referred to in point (d) of the second paragraph of Article 31 of this Regulation including, where applicable, the electronic address where such data may be found.

The annual report on implementation covering the year 2010 and the final report on implementation referred to in Article 67 of the basic Regulation shall contain a chapter assessing the results of the information and publicity measures in terms of visibility and awareness of the operational programme and of the role played by the Community, as provided for in paragraph 1(d) of this Article.

Article 29

Information measures for potential beneficiaries

The managing authority shall provide potential beneficiaries with clear and detailed information, on at least the following:

(a) the conditions of eligibility to be met in order to qualify for financing under the operational programme;

(b) a description of the procedures for examining applications for funding and of the time periods involved;

(c) the criteria for selecting the operations to be financed;

(d) the contacts at national, regional or local level who can provide information on the operational programme.

The managing authority shall involve in information and publicity measures, in accordance with national laws and practices, at least one of the following bodies that can widely disseminate the information listed in paragraph 2:

(a) national, regional and local authorities and development agencies;

(b) trade and professional associations;

(c) economic and social partners;

(d) non-governmental organisations;

(e) organisations representing business;

(f) information centres on the European Union as well as Commission representatives in the Member States;

(g) educational institutions.

Article 30

Information measures for beneficiaries

The managing authority shall inform beneficiaries that acceptance of funding is also an acceptance of their inclusion in the list of beneficiaries published in accordance with point (d) of the second paragraph of Article 31.

Article 31

Responsibilities of the managing authority relating to information and publicity measures for the public

For the purposes of Article 51(2)(c) of the basic Regulation, the managing authority shall ensure that the information and publicity measures for the public are implemented and that they aim at the widest possible media coverage using various forms and methods of communication at the appropriate territorial level.

The managing authority shall be responsible for organising at least the following information and publicity measures:

(a) a major information activity publicising the launch of the operational programme;

(b) at least one major information activity a year, presenting the achievements of the operational programme;

(c) flying the flag of the European Union during one week starting 9 may, in front of the premises of the managing authority;

(d) the publication, electronically or otherwise, of the list of beneficiaries, the names of the operations and the amount of public funding allocated to the operations.

Participants in operations supported by EFF and aimed at improving professional skills and training as well as beneficiaries receiving support for early departure from the fishing sector, including early retirement, as provided for under Article 27(1)(d) of the basic Regulation, shall not be named.

Article 32

Responsibilities of beneficiaries relating to information and publicity measures for the public

Where the total eligible cost of an operation co-financed by the EFF, exceeds EUR 500 000 and consists in the financing of infrastructure or of construction operations the beneficiary shall put up a billboard at the site of the operation during its implementation. The information referred to in Article 33 shall take up at least 25 % of the billboard.

When the operation is completed the billboard shall be replaced by the permanent explanatory plaque referred to in paragraph 3.

Where the total eligible cost of the operation exceeds EUR 500 000 and consists in the purchase of a physical object or the financing of infrastructure or of construction operations, the beneficiary shall put up a permanent explanatory plaque that is visible and of significant size no later than six months from the date of completion of the operation.

The plaque shall state the type and name of the operation in addition to the information referred to in Article 33. The information referred to in that Article shall take up at least 25 % of the plaque.

An explanatory plaque shall also be installed at the locations of the groups financed under priority axis 4 of the basic Regulation.

In appropriate cases, the beneficiary shall ensure that those taking part in an operation co-financed by the EFF have been informed of that funding.

The beneficiary shall provide a clear notice to the effect that the operation being implemented has been selected under an operational programme co-financed by the EFF.

Any document, including any attendance or other certificate, concerning such an operation shall include a statement to the effect that the operational programme was co-financed by the EFF.

Article 33

Technical characteristics of information and publicity measures for the operation

All information and publicity measures aimed at beneficiaries, potential beneficiaries and the public shall include the following: