Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2328/2003, (EC) No 861/2006, (EC) No 1198/2006 and (EC) No 791/2007 and Regulation (EU) No 1255/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council

TITLE I

SUBJECT-MATTER, SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS

Article 1

Subject-matter

This Regulation defines Union financial measures for the implementation of:

(a) the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP);

(b) relevant measures relating to the Law of the Sea;

(c) the sustainable development of fisheries and aquaculture areas and inland fishing; and

(d) the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP).

Article 2

Geographical scope

This Regulation applies to operations carried out in the territory of the Union, unless otherwise provided for in this Regulation.

Article 3

Definitions

For the purpose of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

(1) ‘Common information sharing environment’ (CISE) means a network of systems with a decentralised set-up developed for the exchange of information between users in order to improve their situational awareness of activities at sea;

(2) ‘cross-sectoral operations’ means those initiatives that mutually benefit different sectors and/or sectoral policies, as referred to in the TFEU, and that cannot be accomplished entirely through measures encompassed within respective policy areas;

(3) ‘electronic recording and reporting system’ (ERS) means a system for the electronic recording and reporting of data as referred to in Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009;

(4) ‘European marine observation and data network’ means a network that integrates relevant national marine observation and data programmes into a common and accessible European resource;

(5) ‘fisheries and aquaculture area’ means an area with a sea, river or lake shore, including ponds or a river basin, with a significant level of employment in fisheries or aquaculture, that is functionally coherent in geographical, economic and social terms and is designated as such by a Member State;

(6) ‘fisherman’ means any person engaging in commercial fishing activities, as recognised by the Member State;

(7) ‘inland fishing’ means fishing activities carried out for commercial purposes in inland waters by vessels or other devices, including those used for ice fishing;

(8) ‘integrated coastal zone management’ means strategies and measures such as those described in Recommendation 2002/413/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (¹);

(9) ‘integrated maritime governance’ means the coordinated management of all sectoral policies at Union level affecting the oceans, seas and coastal regions;

(10) ‘Integrated Maritime Policy’ (IMP) means a Union policy whose aim is to foster coordinated and coherent decision-making to maximise the sustainable development, economic growth and social cohesion of Member States, and notably the coastal, insular and outermost regions in the Union, as well as maritime sectors, through coherent maritime-related policies and relevant international cooperation;

(11) ‘Integrated maritime surveillance’ (IMS) means a Union initiative aimed at enhancing effectiveness and efficiency in surveillance activities in respect of the European seas through information exchange and collaboration across sectors and borders;

(12) ‘maritime spatial planning’ means a process by which the relevant Member State’s authorities analyse and organise human activities in marine areas in order to achieve ecological, economic and social objectives;

(13) ‘measure’ means a set of operations;

(14) ‘small–scale coastal fishing’ means fishing carried out by fishing vessels of an overall length of less than 12 metres and not using towed fishing gear as listed in Table 3 of Annex I to Commission Regulation (EC) No 26/2004 (²);

(15) ‘vessels operating exclusively in inland waters’ means vessels engaged in commercial fishing in inland waters and not included in the Union fishing fleet register.

TITLE II

GENERAL FRAMEWORK

CHAPTER I

Establishment and objectives of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund

Article 4

Establishment

The European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) is hereby established.

Article 5

Objectives

The EMFF shall contribute to the achievement of the following objectives:

(a) promoting competitive, environmentally sustainable, economically viable and socially responsible fisheries and aquaculture;

(b) fostering the implementation of the CFP;

(c) promoting a balanced and inclusive territorial development of fisheries and aquaculture areas;

(d) fostering the development and implementation of the Union’s IMP in a manner complementary to cohesion policy and to the CFP.

The pursuit of those objectives shall not result in an increase in fishing capacity.

Article 6

Union priorities

The EMFF shall contribute to the Europe 2020 strategy and to the implementation of CFP. It shall pursue the following Union priorities for the sustainable development of fisheries and aquaculture and related activities, which reflect the relevant thematic objectives referred to in Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013:

(1) Promoting environmentally sustainable, resource–efficient, innovative, competitive and knowledge–based fisheries by pursuing the following specific objectives: (a) the reduction of the impact of fisheries on the marine environment, including the avoidance and reduction, as far as possible, of unwanted catches; (b) the protection and restoration of aquatic biodiversity and ecosystems; (c) the ensuring of a balance between fishing capacity and available fishing opportunities; (d) the enhancement of the competitiveness and viability of fisheries enterprises, including of small–scale coastal fleet, and the improvement of safety and working conditions; (e) the provision of support to strengthen technological development and innovation, including increasing energy efficiency, and knowledge transfer; (f) the development of professional training, new professional skills and lifelong learning.

(2) Fostering environmentally sustainable, resource-efficient, innovative, competitive and knowledge-based aquaculture by pursuing the following specific objectives: (a) the provision of support to strengthen technological development, innovation and knowledge transfer; (b) the enhancement of the competitiveness and viability of aquaculture enterprises, including the improvement of safety and working conditions, in particular of SMEs; (c) the protection and restoration of aquatic biodiversity and the enhancement of ecosystems related to aquaculture and the promotion of resource-efficient aquaculture; (d) the promotion of aquaculture having a high level of environmental protection, and the promotion of animal health and welfare and of public health and safety; (e) the development of professional training, new professional skills and lifelong learning.

(3) Fostering the implementation of the CFP by pursuing the following specific objectives: (a) the improvement and supply of scientific knowledge as well as the improvement of the collection and management of data; (b) the provision of support to monitoring, control and enforcement, thereby enhancing institutional capacity and the efficiency of public administration, without increasing the administrative burden.

(4) Increasing employment and territorial cohesion by pursuing the following specific objective: the promotion of economic growth, social inclusion and job creation, and providing support to employability and labour mobility in coastal and inland communities which depend on fishing and aquaculture, including the diversification of activities within fisheries and into other sectors of maritime economy.

(5) Fostering marketing and processing by pursuing the following specific objectives: (a) the improvement of market organisation for fishery and aquaculture products; (b) the encouragement of investment in the processing and marketing sectors.

(6) Fostering the implementation of the IMP.

CHAPTER II

Shared and direct management

Article 7

Shared and direct management

CHAPTER III

General Principles of Assistance under Shared Management

Article 8

State aid

Article 9

Specific ex ante conditionalities

The specific ex ante conditionalities referred to in Annex IV shall apply to the EMFF.

CHAPTER IV

Admissibility of applications and ineligible operations

Article 10

Admissibility of applications

An application submitted by an operator for support from the EMFF shall be inadmissible for an identified period of time laid down pursuant to paragraph 4 of this Article, if it has been determined by the competent authority that the operator concerned:

(a) has committed a serious infringement under Article 42 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 (³) or Article 90(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009;

(b) has been involved in the operation, management or ownership of fishing vessels included in the Union IUU vessel list as set out in Article 40(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008, or of vessels flagged to countries identified as non-cooperating third countries as set out in Article 33 of that Regulation;

(c) has committed a serious infringement of the CFP rules identified as such in other legislation adopted by the European Parliament and by the Council; or

(d) has committed any of the offences set out in Articles 3 and 4 of Directive 2008/99/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (⁴), where the application is made for support under Chapter II of Title V of this Regulation.

The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 126 concerning:

(a) the identification of the period of time referred to in paragraphs 1 and 3 of this Article which shall be proportionate to the nature, gravity, duration and repetition of the serious infringement, offence or fraud, and shall be of at least one year’s duration;

(b) the relevant starting or ending dates of the period of time referred to in paragraphs 1 and 3 of this Article.

For the purposes of the first subparagraph, a Member State shall provide, on request from another Member State, the information contained in its national register of infringements referred to in Article 93 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.

Article 11

Ineligible operations

The following operations shall not be eligible under the EMFF:

(a) operations increasing the fishing capacity of a vessel or equipment increasing the ability of a vessel to find fish;

(b) the construction of new fishing vessels or the importation of fishing vessels;

(c) the temporary or permanent cessation of fishing activities, unless otherwise provided for in this Regulation;

(d) exploratory fishing;

(e) the transfer of ownership of a business;

(f) direct restocking, unless explicitly provided for as a conservation measure by a Union legal act or in the case of experimental restocking.

TITLE III

FINANCIAL FRAMEWORK

Article 12

Budget implementation

Article 13

Budgetary resources under shared management

EUR 192 500 000 of the budgetary resources referred to in paragraph 1 shall be allocated to the compensation of outermost regions under Chapter V of Title V. That compensation shall not exceed, per year:

(a) EUR 6 450 000 for the Azores and Madeira;

(b) EUR 8 700 000 for the Canary Islands;

(c) EUR 12 350 000 for the French outermost regions referred to in Article 349 TFEU.

Article 14

Budgetary resources under direct management

Article 15

Mid-term review

The Commission shall review the implementation of Chapter I and II of Title VI, including the need for adjustments of the indicative distribution of funds as laid down in Annex III, and shall, by 30 June 2017, submit to the European Parliament and to the Council an interim evaluation report on the results obtained and the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the EMFF.

Article 16

Financial distribution for shared management

The resources available for commitments by Member States referred to in Article 13(1) for the period from 2014 to 2020, as set out in the table in Annex II, shall be determined on the basis of the following objective criteria:

(a) as regards Title V, with the exception of Articles 76 and 77: (i) the level of employment in the fisheries and marine and fresh water aquaculture sectors, including employment in related processing; (ii) the level of production in the fisheries and marine and fresh water aquaculture sectors, including related processing; and (iii) the share of small–scale coastal fishing fleet in the overall fishing fleet;

(b) as regards Articles 76 and 77: (i) the extent of the control tasks of the Member State concerned, taking into account the size of the national fishing fleet and the size of the sea area to be controlled, the volume of the landings and the value of imports from third countries; (ii) the available control resources compared to the extent of the control tasks of the Member State, where available means are determined by taking into account the number of controls conducted at sea and the number of landing inspections; (iii) the extent of the data collections tasks of the Member State concerned, taking into account the size of the national fishing fleet, the volume of the landings and of the aquaculture production, the amount of scientific monitoring activities at sea and the number of surveys the Member State is taking part in; and (iv) the available data collection resources compared to the extent of the data collection tasks of the Member State, where available means are determined by taking into account the human resources and technical means needed to implement the national sampling programme for data collection;

(c) as regards all measures, the historical allocations of funds in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006 and the historical consumption in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 861/2006.

TITLE IV

PROGRAMMING

CHAPTER I

Programming for measures financed under shared management

Article 17

Preparation of operational programmes

Article 18

Content of the operational programme

In addition to the elements referred to in Article 27 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, the operational programme shall include:

(a) an analysis of the situation in terms of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and the identification of the needs that require to be addressed in the geographical area, including, where relevant, sea basins covered by the programme. The analysis shall be structured around the relevant Union priorities set out in Article 6 of this Regulation and, where applicable, shall be consistent with the multiannual national strategic plan for aquaculture referred to in Article 34 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 and the progress made in achieving good environmental status through the development and implementation of a marine strategy referred to in Article 5 of Directive 2008/56/EC. Specific needs concerning jobs, the environment, the mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change, and the promotion of innovation shall be assessed in relation to the Union priorities, with a view to identifying the most relevant responses at the level of each of the priorities related to the relevant area;

(b) a description of the strategy within the meaning of Article 27 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, which shall demonstrate that: (i) appropriate targets are set for each of the Union priorities that are included in the programme, on the basis of common indicators referred to in Article 109 of this Regulation; (ii) the selection of relevant measures follows logically from each Union priority selected in the programme, taking into account the conclusions of the ex ante evaluation and the analysis referred to in point (a) of this paragraph. As regards the measures for the permanent cessation of fishing activities under Article 34 of this Regulation, the description of the strategy shall include the targets and measures to be taken for the reduction of the fishing capacity in accordance with Article 22 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013. A description of the method for the calculation of the compensation to be granted under Articles 33 and 34 of this Regulation shall also be included; (iii) the allocation of financial resources to the Union priorities included in the programme is justifiable and adequate to achieve the targets set;

(c) where appropriate, the specific needs of Natura 2000 areas, as established by Council Directive 92/43/EEC (⁷), and the contribution of the programme to the establishment of a coherent network of fish stock recovery areas as provided for in Article 8 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013;

(d) the assessment of the specific ex ante conditionalities referred to in Article 9 of and in Annex IV to this Regulation and, where required, the actions referred to in Article 19(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013;

(e) a description of the performance framework within the meaning of Article 22 of and Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013;

(f) a list of measures selected organised by Union priorities;

(g) a list of criteria applied for selecting the fisheries and aquaculture areas under Chapter III of Title V;

(h) a list of selection criteria for community-led local development strategies under Chapter III of Title V;

(i) in Member States where over 1 000 vessels can be considered small-scale coastal fishing vessels, an action plan for the development, competitiveness and sustainability of small-scale coastal fishing;

(j) the evaluation requirements and the evaluation plan referred to in Article 56 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 and actions to be taken to address identified needs;

(k) a financing plan which is to be designed by taking into account Article 20 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 and in accordance with the Commission implementing act referred to in Article 16(2) of this Regulation, comprising: (i) a table setting out the total EMFF contribution planned for each year; (ii) a table setting out the applicable EMFF resources and co-financing rate under the Union priorities set out in Article 6 of this Regulation and for technical assistance; by way of derogation from the general rule laid down in Article 94(2) of this Regulation, that table shall, where applicable, indicate separately the EMFF resources and the co-financing rates which apply for the support referred to in Articles 33, 34, Article 41(2), Articles 67 and 70, points (a) to (d) and (f) to (l) of Article 76(2), point (e) of Article 76(2) and Article 77 of this Regulation;

(l) information on the complementarity and coordination with ESI Funds and other relevant Union and national funding instruments;