The Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional political agreement today on the implementation of the landing obligation and the so called omnibus regulation. The agreement was made during the second informal trilogue meeting held on the issue.
The omnibus regulation contains a package of amendments to existing control and technical measures regulations needed to implement the landing obligation agreed under the reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).
The Council and the European Parliament agreed on a number of points aimed at simplifying the provisions and reducing administrative burden for fishermen and control administrations. These included among others;
- The proposal included mechanisms to prevent the development of parallel markets for undersized fish.
- The requirement to separate undersized catches in different boxes on board fishing vessels was deleted.
- An annual report on the implementation of the landing obligation will be prepared by the Commission on the basis of information from Advisory Councils and other sources transmitted by the member states.
Nest steps. The text will be submitted to a first reading vote in plenary after which the Council must formally approve it. The next plenary is scheduled for April.