(1)

The Union fishing fleet register is a necessary tool for implementing the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy. That register should contain all Union fishing vessels.

(2)

Currently the rules governing the national fishing fleet registers and the Union fishing fleet register are laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No 26/2004 (2).

(3)

Member States should record the information on ownership, on vessel and gear characteristics and on the activity of Union fishing vessels flying their flag and submit to the Commission such information in accordance with Article 24(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013. The Commission should maintain a Union fishing fleet register containing the information received from the Member States.

(4)

The Member States are responsible for the accuracy of the information contained in the national fishing fleet register. To this end the Members States should constantly monitor the quality of such information and ensure that it is regularly updated and can be checked at any time by the Commission through specific queries.

(5)

The processing by the Member States' competent authorities of personal data included in the national fishing fleet registers is subject to Union law rules on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, in particular Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (3), and to the relevant national implementing legislation. The characteristics and external marking recorded in the register kept by each Member State should be specified in accordance with Council Regulation (EEC) No 2930/86 (4) and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011 (5).

(6)

In order to monitor the activities of vessels between Member States and to ensure an unequivocal link between the information contained in the Union fishing fleet register and the data from other information systems relating to fishing activities, a unique identification number should be allocated to each Union fishing vessel, which under no circumstances may be reassigned or altered.

(7)

To ensure the effective application of this Regulation it is appropriate to introduce new tools and procedures in order to simplify further data management between Member States and the European Commission and to guarantee access to updated data more frequently.

(8)

For the management of the capacity of fishing fleets and their activity, the Union fishing fleet register should be made available to Member States in its entirety and to the public in a limited version. This limited version should exclude personal data in order to protect such data but include fishing vessels identifiers for the purposes of strengthening access to and transparency of information for the public.

(9)

Processing of personal data in the framework of this Regulation by the Union institutions and bodies and access by the Member States to the information in the Union fishing fleet register is subject to Union law on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, in particular Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6) in particular as regards the requirements of confidentiality and security of processing, the transfer of personal data from the national systems of Member States to the Commission, the lawfulness of processing, and the rights of data subjects to information, access to and rectification of their personal data.

(10)

The new tool for data exchanges developed by the Commission should be used for all electronic data exchanges.

(11)

As Article 24(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 provides that Member States send to the Commission the information on ownership and on vessel and gear characteristics of Union fishing vessels flying their flag, those data should also be included in this Regulation.

(12)

Regulation (EC) No 26/2004 should be repealed.

(13)

Sufficient time should be given to Member States to adapt their national registers to the new data requirements laid down in this Regulation.

(14)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for Fisheries and Aquaculture,

(a)

lays down the obligations of the Commission for establishing and maintaining the Union fishing fleet register;

(b)

lays down the obligations of Member States regarding the collection and validation of data in their national fishing fleet register and the transmission of those data to the Commission;

(c)

determines the minimum information on vessel characteristics and activity which must appear in the national fishing fleet registers.

(a)

‘fishing vessel’ means any vessel as defined in the Article 4 paragraph 1(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013;

(b)

‘Union fishing vessel’ means: a fishing vessel as defined in the Article 4 paragraph 1(5) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013;

(c)

‘Union fishing fleet’ means all Union fishing vessels flying the flag of a Member State and registered in the Union;

(d)

‘aquaculture vessel’ means a vessel equipped exclusively for harvesting, transport, handling and/or landing of aquaculture products;

(e)

‘event’ means any entry to or exit from the fleet of a vessel or change in one of its characteristics as listed in Annex I;

(f)

‘transmission’ means a digital transfer of one or more events between the Member States and the Commission;

(g)

‘Transportation layer’ means the electronic network for fisheries data exchanges as made available by the Commission to all Member States and the body designated by it to exchange data in a standardised way;

(h)

‘census date’ means the date on which the first event has been communicated by a Member State to the Commission, as laid down in Annex II;

(i)

‘snapshot’ means the list of events recorded for vessels in the fishing fleet register of a Member State in a defined period of time;

(j)

‘legal owner’ means any natural or legal person that appears on the vessel's registration documents as having the legal title of ownership of the vessel;

(k)

‘operator’ means a natural or legal person as defined in Article 4(19) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 (7);

(l)

‘common fleet register (CFR) number’ means the unique identification number of the vessel in the Union fishing fleet, irrespective of any national fishing fleet numbers;

(m)

‘personal data’ means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person as defined in Article 2(a) of Regulation (EC) No 45/2001;

(n)

‘national fishing fleet register’ means the register which each Member State keeps of all the fishing vessels flying its flag;

(o)

‘Union fishing fleet register’ means the register, kept by the Commission, containing information on all Union fishing vessels.