LegalizeCommission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2248 of 12 October 2026 operating deductions from the fishing effort available to Italy in 2026 on account of overfishing in the previous year
| Image omitted; see official source | Official Journal of the European Union | EN L series |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2026/2248 | 13.10.2026 |
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 of 20 November 2009 establishing a Union control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the common fisheries policy, amending Regulations (EC) No 847/96, (EC) No 2371/2002, (EC) No 811/2004, (EC) No 768/2005, (EC) No 2115/2005, (EC) No 2166/2005, (EC) No 388/2006, (EC) No 509/2007, (EC) No 676/2007, (EC) No 1098/2007, (EC) No 1300/2008, (EC) No 1342/2008 and repealing Regulations (EEC) No 2847/93, (EC) No 1627/94 and (EC) No 1966/2006 [^ntr1-L_202602248EN.000101-E0001], and in particular Article 106(1) and (2) thereof,
Whereas:
- (1) Fishing efforts in the western Mediterranean Sea for the years 2025 and 2026 have been fixed, respectively, by Council Regulations (EU) 2025/219 [^ntr2-L_202602248EN.000101-E0002] and (EU) 2026/266 [^ntr3-L_202602248EN.000101-E0003].
- (2) Pursuant to Article 106(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, when the Commission has established that a Member State has exceeded the fishing effort which has been allocated to it, the Commission, after consulting the Member State concerned, is to operate deductions from the future fishing effort allocated to that Member State.
- (3) Article 106(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 provides that such deductions are to be operated in the following year or years by applying a multiplying factor as set out therein.
- (4) After assessing Italy’s excess utilisation of fishing opportunities in accordance with Article 47 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2196 [^ntr4-L_202602248EN.000101-E0004], and pursuant to the multiplication factors set out in Article 106(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 where relevant, the Commission concluded that Italy has exceeded the maximum allowable fishing effort allocated to it for the year 2025 by the following quantities:
- — 414 fishing days for trawlers between 12 and 24 metres (EFF/MED3_OTB_TR2) targeting red mullet, European hake, deep-water rose shrimp, and Norway lobster in the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean geographical subareas (GSAs) 17 and 18, representing a deduction of 0,7 % of the maximum allowable fishing effort allocated to Italy in 2026 for the fishing areas and fisheries concerned,
- — 396 fishing days for beam trawlers between 12 and 24 metres (EFF/MED3_TBB_TR2) targeting common sole in GSA 17, leading to a total deduction of 475,200 fishing days after applying a multiplying factor of 1,2 pursuant to Article 106(2) Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, due to the extent of the exceedance being between 10 and 20 %; and representing a deduction of 12,7 % of the maximum allowable fishing effort allocated to Italy in 2026 for the fishing areas and fisheries concerned,
- — 101 fishing days for beam trawlers of 24 metres and above (EFF/MED3_TBB_TR3) targeting common sole in GSA 17, representing a deduction of 2,7 % of the maximum allowable fishing effort allocated to Italy in 2026 for the fishing areas and fisheries concerned,
- — 189,890 fishing days for trawlers between 18 and 24 metres (EFF1/MED2_TR3) targeting red mullet in GSAs 8, 9, 10, and 11; European hake in GSAs 8, 9, 10, and 11; deep-water rose shrimp in GSAs 9, 10, and 11; and Norway lobster in GSAs 9 and 10, representing a deduction of 1,6 % of the maximum allowable fishing effort allocated to Italy in 2026 for the fishing areas and fisheries concerned.
- (5) Italy has been consulted by the Commission by registered email transmitted on 15 June 2026 as regards the deductions, including the amounts resulting from the applicable multiplying factor where relevant, to be operated from the fishing effort available to Italy in 2026 in accordance with Article 106(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, on account of overfishing in 2025. On 9 July 2026, Italy accepted the deductions and asked the Commission to assess the possibility of equally spreading the deductions for all fleet segments concerned over two years without providing justifications.
- (6) The deductions due represent for the fishing areas and fisheries concerned: 0,7 % of EFF/MED3_OTB_TR2, 12,7 % of EFF/MED3_TBB_TR2, 2,7 % of EFF/MED3_TBB_TR3 and 1,6 % of EFF1/MED2_TR3. Since the quantities to deduct constitute a low percentage of the maximum allowable fishing effort allocated in 2026 for the fishing areas and fisheries concerned, the deductions can therefore be operated in full in 2026 without preventing the fleet segments concerned from pursuing their activities. The Commission therefore decided not to spread the deductions for Italy over two years. Italy has been informed by registered email sent on 28 September 2026.
- (7) Deductions should therefore be operated on the fishing effort allocated to Italy in 2026 for the exceeded fishing effort in the fishing areas and fisheries concerned.
- (8) Further updates or corrections may still occur following the detection, for the current or previous deduction exercises, of errors, omissions or misreporting in the fishing effort deployment data declared by Italy pursuant to Article 33 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
The fishing effort fixed for the year 2026 in Regulation (EU) 2026/266 shall be reduced by the deductions set out in the Annex to this Regulation.
Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 12 October 2026.
For the Commission
The President
Ursula VON DER LEYEN
[^ntr1-L_202602248EN.000101-E0001]: OJ L 343, 22.12.2009, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2009/1224/oj.
[^ntr2-L_202602248EN.000101-E0002]: Council Regulation (EU) 2025/219 of 30 January 2025 fixing for 2025 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Mediterranean and Black Seas (OJ L, 2025/219, 4.2.2025, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2025/219/oj).
[^ntr3-L_202602248EN.000101-E0003]: Council Regulation (EU) 2026/266 of 26 January 2026 fixing for 2026 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Mediterranean and Black Seas (OJ L, 2026/266, 30.1.2026, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2026/266/oj).
[^ntr4-L_202602248EN.000101-E0004]: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2196 of 17 October 2025 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 as regards access to waters and resources, control of fisheries, surveillance, inspection and enforcement, deduction of quotas and fishing efforts, data and information, and repealing Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011 (OJ L, 2025/2196, 12.11.2025, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2025/2196/oj).
ANNEX
DEDUCTIONS FROM THE FISHING EFFORT FOR THE YEAR 2026 FOR THE STOCKS WHICH HAVE BEEN OVERFISHED
| Member State | Fishing effort group code | Stock group | Vessel length | Vessel type | Initial fishing effort allocated for 2025 (in fishing days) | Adapted fishing effort for 2025[^ntr1-L_202602248EN.000301-E0001] (in fishing days) | Total fishing effort deployed in 2025 (in fishing days) | Effort uptake in 2025 (in %) | Overfishing related to adapted fishing effort in 2025 (in fishing days) | Multi-plying factor[^ntr2-L_202602248EN.000301-E0002] | Deduction to apply on the fishing effort allocation for 2026 (in fishing days) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IT | EFF/MED3_OTB_TR2 | Red mullet, European hake, deep-water rose shrimp and Norway lobster in GFCM geographical subareas (GSAs) 17 and 18 | ≥ 12 m and < 24 m | Trawlers | 64 737 | 73 761 | 74 175 | 100,56 % | 414 | 1,0 | 414 |
| IT | EFF/MED3_TBB_TR2 | Common sole in GCFM geographical subarea 17 | ≥ 12 m and < 24 m | Beam trawlers | 3 635 | 3 635 | 4 031 | 110,89 % | 396 | 1,2 | 475,200 |
| IT | EFF/MED3_TBB_TR3 | Common sole in GCFM geographical subarea 17 | ≥ 24 m | Beam trawlers | 3 614 | 3 614 | 3 715 | 102,79 % | 101 | 1,0 | 101 |
| IT | EFF1/MED2_TR3 including additional allocations under EFF1/MED2_TR3_AA[^ntr3-L_202602248EN.000301-E0003] | Red mullet in GSAs 8, 9, 10 and 11; European hake in GSAs 8, 9, 10 and 11; deep-water rose shrimp in GSAs 9, 10 and 11; Norway lobster in GSAs 9 and 10 | ≥ 18 m and < 24 m | Trawlers | 12 148 | 19 139,109 | 19 329 | 100,99 % | 189,890 | 1,0 | 189,890 |
[^ntr1-L_202602248EN.000301-E0001]: Effort available to a Member State pursuant to the relevant fishing opportunities Regulation after taking into account possible additional fishing days in accordance with Article 8 of Regulation (EU) 2025/219 of the Council of 30 January 2025 fixing for 2025 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, possible transfer of fishing opportunities in accordance with Article 9(3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1022 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 establishing a multiannual plan for the fisheries exploiting demersal stocks in the western Mediterranean Sea and amending Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 (OJ L 172, 26.6.2019, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2019/1022/oj), exchanges of fishing opportunities in accordance with Article 16(8) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Common Fisheries Policy, amending Council Regulations (EC) No 1954/2003 and (EC) No 1224/2009 and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2371/2002 and (EC) No 639/2004 and Council Decision 2004/585/EC (OJ L 354, 28.12.2013, p. 22, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2013/1380/oj), as well as deduction of fishing opportunities in accordance with Article 106 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.
[^ntr2-L_202602248EN.000301-E0002]: As set out in Article 106(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.
[^ntr3-L_202602248EN.000301-E0003]: As set out in Article 8 of Regulation (EU) 2025/219.
ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2026/2248/oj
ISSN 1977-0677 (electronic edition)
Reading this document does not replace reading the official text published in the Official Journal of the European Union. We assume no responsibility for any inaccuracies arising from the conversion of the original to this format.
This text is published under EUR-Lex's own terms of reuse, not a Legalize or public-domain licence.
EUR-Lex
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
© European Union, https://eur-lex.europa.eu — Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the European Union). Reused under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. Only EU legislation published in the printed Official Journal of the European Union is deemed authentic; consolidated texts are reproduced here for documentation purposes and have been reformatted to Markdown.