2013/762/EU: Commission Implementing Decision of 9 December 2013 on an additional financial contribution towards Member States’ fisheries control programmes for 2013 (notified under document C(2013) 8576)

This Decision provides for an additional Union financial contribution towards expenditure incurred by Member States for 2013 in implementing monitoring and control systems applicable to the common fisheries policy (CFP), as referred to in Article 8(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 861/2006. It establishes the amount of the Union financial contribution for each Member State, the rate of the Union financial contribution and the conditions on which such contribution may be granted.

All payments in respect of which a reimbursement is claimed shall be made by the Member State concerned by 30 June 2017. Payments made by a Member State after that deadline shall not be eligible for reimbursement. Unused budgetary appropriations related to this Decision shall be de-committed at the latest by 31 December 2018.

1 Expenditure incurred, in respect of projects referred to in Annex I, on the setting up of new technologies and IT networks in order to allow efficient and secure collection and management of data in connection with monitoring, control and surveillance of fisheries activities, shall qualify for a financial contribution of 90 % of the eligible expenditure, within the limits laid down in that Annex.

2 As far as traceability projects are concerned, the EU contribution shall be limited to EUR 1000000 in case of investments carried out by Member State authorities, and to EUR 250000 in case of private investments. The total number of traceability projects carried out by private operators shall be limited to eight per Member State and per financing decision.

3 In order to qualify for the financial contribution referred to in paragraph 2, all projects co-financed according to this decision shall satisfy the applicable requirements laid down in Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 and Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011.

4 Projects BG/13/02 related to Omega gauges, EL/13/10 related to tablets to be used for inspection purposes and PT/13/08 related to weighing equipment, which are referred to in Annex I, shall qualify for a financial contribution of 50 % of the eligible expenditure, within the limits laid down in that Annex.

1 Expenditure incurred, in respect of projects referred to in Annex II, on the purchase and fitting on board of fishing vessels of automatic localisation devices enabling vessels to be monitored at a distance by a fisheries monitoring centre through a vessel monitoring system (VMS) shall qualify for a financial contribution of 90 % of the eligible expenditure, within the limits established in that Annex.

2 In order to qualify for the financial contribution referred to in paragraph 1, automatic localisation devices shall satisfy the requirements laid down in Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011.

Expenditure incurred, in respect of projects referred to in Annex III, on the development, purchase, and installation of, as well as technical assistance for, the components necessary for electronic recording and reporting systems (ERS) in order to allow interoperability of ERS systems between Member States as well as to enable the implementation of the obligation to land all catches (‘discard ban’), shall qualify for a financial contribution of 90 % of the eligible expenditure, within the limits laid down in that Annex.

Expenditure incurred, in respect of projects referred to in Annex V, on pilot projects on new control technologies shall qualify for a financial contribution of 50 % of the eligible expenditure, within the limits laid down in that Annex.

The planned expenditure, the eligible share thereof, and the maximum Union contribution per Member State are set as follows: (EUR)Member StateExpenditure planned in the national fisheries control additional programmeExpenditure for projects selected under this DecisionMaximum Union contributionBelgium430000280000252000Bulgaria357913579124031Denmark41951441251235876285Estonia400000400000360000Ireland200000200000180000Greece2285007850050650Spain29898791037300769570France20585851356145631082Croatia267490267490227400Italy1850000422000379800Cyprus10000010000090000Latvia124038124038111634Lithuania999199991989927Malta1470510615000553500Poland148781213898121090831Portugal443954161500143150Romania4000000Finland18000001050000945000Sweden245000011500001035000United Kingdom315532571023140Total20703175100444407833000

This Decision is addressed to the Kingdom of Belgium, the Republic of Bulgaria, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Republic of Estonia, Ireland, the Hellenic Republic, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, the Republic of Croatia, the Italian Republic, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Portuguese Republic, Romania, the Republic of Finland, the Kingdom of Sweden and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.