Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2181 of 29 June 2022 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2021/1139 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund as regards the starting dates and time periods for the inadmissibility of applications for support

This Regulation applies to applications for support from the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) and specifies the period of time during which such applications submitted by operators who have carried out any of the actions referred to in Article 11(1) or Article 11(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1139 shall be inadmissible.

For the purposes of this Regulation, the definitions referred to in Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council apply. In addition, the following definition apply: ‘infringement points’ means the points assigned to an operator for a Union fishing vessel under the point system for serious infringements set out in Article 92 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.

1 An application for support submitted by an operator shall be inadmissible for a period of time established pursuant to Annex I where the competent authority has determined in a decision that the operator submitting the application has committed or is held liable for serious infringements under Article 42(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 or Article 90(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.

2 For the purpose of triggering inadmissibility and calculating the duration of the inadmissibility period, only serious infringements committed as from 1 January 2013 and for which a decision was taken within the meaning of paragraph 1, shall be taken into account.

3 Notwithstanding paragraph 2, for the purposes of paragraph 1 only serious infringements whose points have not been deleted pursuant to Article 92(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 shall be taken into account.

4 The starting date of the inadmissibility period shall be the date of the decision taken by the competent authority within the meaning of paragraph 1.

1 An application for support submitted by an operator shall be inadmissible for a period of time established pursuant to Annex II if the competent authority has determined in a decision that: (a) that operator has been involved in the operation, management or ownership of a fishing vessel included in the Union IUU vessel list as set out in Article 27 of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008; or (b) that operator has been involved in the operation, management or ownership of a vessel flagged to a country included in the list of non-cooperating third countries provided for in Article 33 of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008.

2 The starting date of the inadmissibility period shall be the date of the decision taken by the competent authority within the meaning of paragraph 1.

1 If a competent authority has determined in a decision that an operator has committed or is held liable for one of the offences set out in Article 3 and Article 4 of Directive 2008/99/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, applications for support from the EMFAF made by that operator pursuant to Article 27 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1139 shall be inadmissible pursuant to Annex III.

2 The starting date of the inadmissibility period shall be the date of the decision by a competent authority determining that an offence set out in Article 3 or Article 4 of Directive 2008/99/EC was committed.

3 For the purposes of triggering inadmissibility and calculating the duration of the inadmissibility period, only offences committed as from 1 January 2013 and for which a decision was adopted within the meaning of paragraph 1 shall be taken into account.

1 If a competent authority determines that an operator committed or is held liable for fraud in the context of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) or EMFAF, all applications for EMFAF support submitted by that operator shall be inadmissible pursuant to Annex IV.

2 The inadmissibility period shall start from the date of the final decision determining the commission of a fraud as defined in Article 3 of Directive (EU) 2017/1371 of the European Parliament and of the Council .

1 If an operator has committed or is held liable for any of the actions referred to in Articles 3, 4, 5 and 6, the Member State concerned shall determine if the threshold triggering inadmissibility is reached. This determination shall be carried out by the Member State pursuant to column (a) of Annexes I, II, III or IV to this Regulation.

2 If the Member State concerned has determined pursuant to paragraph 1 that the threshold triggering inadmissibility is reached, it shall then determine the corresponding duration of inadmissibility pursuant to: (a) column (b) of Annexes I, II, III or IV to this Regulation; and (b) where applicable, columns (c) and (d) of Annexes I or III to this Regulation.

1 If an operator owns or controls more than one fishing vessel, the inadmissibility period of an application for support submitted by that operator shall be determined separately for each individual fishing vessel, in accordance with Article 3 or Article 4.

2 In addition, applications for support submitted by that operator shall also be inadmissible: (a) if applications in relation to more than half of the fishing vessels owned or controlled by that operator are inadmissible for support pursuant to Article 3 or Article 4, or (b) where infringement points have been assigned for serious infringements pursuant to Article 42(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 or Article 90(1)(a) and (c) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, if the average number of infringement points assigned per fishing vessel owned or controlled by that operator equals or exceeds 7 points.

1 If an operator is subject to an inadmissibility period pursuant to Articles 3, 4 and 6, the inadmissibility period resulting from serious infringements committed prior to the change of ownership shall not be transferred to the new operator in the case of sale or transfer of ownership of the fishing vessel.

2 By way of derogation from paragraph 1, where, in accordance with the point system established by Article 92 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, infringement points are assigned for serious infringements committed under Article 42(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 or Article 90(1)(a) and (c) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 prior to the change of ownership of the fishing vessel, those infringement points shall be taken into account for the purposes of triggering the inadmissibility and calculating the duration of the inadmissibility period of the new operator pursuant to Article 3 and Article 8(2) only when the new operator commits, after the change of ownership, a serious infringement under Article 42(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 or Article 90(1)(a) and (c) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.

Applications for support submitted by an operator whose fishing licence has been permanently withdrawn for any of the fishing vessels owned or controlled by that operator shall be inadmissible from the date of withdrawal of the fishing licence until the end of the period of eligibility of expenditure for an EMFAF contribution referred to in Article 63(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, if that fishing licence was withdrawn: (a) in accordance with Article 92(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 and Article 129(2) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011 ; or, if applicable, (b) as a result of sanctions for serious infringements imposed by the Member States in accordance with Article 45 of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008.

1 If any of the situations referred to in Article 11(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1139 occur between the date the operator submitted the application and 5 years after the final payment, the support paid from EMFAF relating to that application shall be subject to a financial correction by the Member State concerned in accordance with Article 44 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1139 and Article 103(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060.

2 The amount to be recovered shall be proportionate to the nature, gravity, duration and repetition of the situations referred to in Article 11(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1139.

This Regulation shall not affect the continuation or modification of inadmissibility periods of applications for EMFF support granted under Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/288 .

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. It shall apply from 1 January 2021.