15.11.2014   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 330/1

(1)

In its communication entitled ‘Single Market Act — Twelve levers to boost growth and strengthen confidence — “Working together to create new growth”’, adopted on 13 April 2011, the Commission identified the need to raise to a similarly high level across all Member States the transparency of the social and environmental information provided by undertakings in all sectors. This is fully consistent with the possibility for Member States to require, as appropriate, further improvements to the transparency of undertakings' non-financial information, which is by its nature a continuous endeavour.

(2)

The need to improve undertakings' disclosure of social and environmental information, by presenting a legislative proposal in this field, was reiterated in the Commission communication entitled ‘A renewed EU strategy 2011-14 for Corporate Social Responsibility’, adopted on 25 October 2011.

(3)

In its resolutions of 6 February 2013 on, respectively, ‘Corporate Social Responsibility: accountable, transparent and responsible business behaviour and sustainable growth’ and ‘Corporate Social Responsibility: promoting society's interests and a route to sustainable and inclusive recovery’, the European Parliament acknowledged the importance of businesses divulging information on sustainability such as social and environmental factors, with a view to identifying sustainability risks and increasing investor and consumer trust. Indeed, disclosure of non-financial information is vital for managing change towards a sustainable global economy by combining long-term profitability with social justice and environmental protection. In this context, disclosure of non-financial information helps the measuring, monitoring and managing of undertakings' performance and their impact on society. Thus, the European Parliament called on the Commission to bring forward a legislative proposal on the disclosure of non-financial information by undertakings allowing for high flexibility of action, in order to take account of the multidimensional nature of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the diversity of the CSR policies implemented by businesses matched by a sufficient level of comparability to meet the needs of investors and other stakeholders as well as the need to provide consumers with easy access to information on the impact of businesses on society.

(4)

The coordination of national provisions concerning the disclosure of non-financial information in respect of certain large undertakings is of importance for the interests of undertakings, shareholders and other stakeholders alike. Coordination is necessary in those fields because most of those undertakings operate in more than one Member State.

(5)

It is also necessary to establish a certain minimum legal requirement as regards the extent of the information that should be made available to the public and authorities by undertakings across the Union. The undertakings subject to this Directive should give a fair and comprehensive view of their policies, outcomes, and risks.

(6)

In order to enhance the consistency and comparability of non-financial information disclosed throughout the Union, certain large undertakings should prepare a non-financial statement containing information relating to at least environmental matters, social and employee-related matters, respect for human rights, anti-corruption and bribery matters. Such statement should include a description of the policies, outcomes and risks related to those matters and should be included in the management report of the undertaking concerned. The non-financial statement should also include information on the due diligence processes implemented by the undertaking, also regarding, where relevant and proportionate, its supply and subcontracting chains, in order to identify, prevent and mitigate existing and potential adverse impacts. It should be possible for Member States to exempt undertakings which are subject to this Directive from the obligation to prepare a non-financial statement when a separate report corresponding to the same financial year and covering the same content is provided.

(7)

Where undertakings are required to prepare a non-financial statement, that statement should contain, as regards environmental matters, details of the current and foreseeable impacts of the undertaking's operations on the environment, and, as appropriate, on health and safety, the use of renewable and/or non-renewable energy, greenhouse gas emissions, water use and air pollution. As regards social and employee-related matters, the information provided in the statement may concern the actions taken to ensure gender equality, implementation of fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organisation, working conditions, social dialogue, respect for the right of workers to be informed and consulted, respect for trade union rights, health and safety at work and the dialogue with local communities, and/or the actions taken to ensure the protection and the development of those communities. With regard to human rights, anti-corruption and bribery, the non-financial statement could include information on the prevention of human rights abuses and/or on instruments in place to fight corruption and bribery.

(8)

The undertakings which are subject to this Directive should provide adequate information in relation to matters that stand out as being most likely to bring about the materialisation of principal risks of severe impacts, along with those that have already materialised. The severity of such impacts should be judged by their scale and gravity. The risks of adverse impact may stem from the undertaking's own activities or may be linked to its operations, and, where relevant and proportionate, its products, services and business relationships, including its supply and subcontracting chains. This should not lead to undue additional administrative burdens for small and medium-sized undertakings.

(9)

In providing this information, undertakings which are subject to this Directive may rely on national frameworks, Union-based frameworks such as the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), or international frameworks such as the United Nations (UN) Global Compact, the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights implementing the UN ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’ Framework, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the International Organisation for Standardisation's ISO 26000, the International Labour Organisation's Tripartite Declaration of principles concerning multinational enterprises and social policy, the Global Reporting Initiative, or other recognised international frameworks.

(10)

Member States should ensure that adequate and effective means exist to guarantee disclosure of non-financial information by undertakings in compliance with this Directive. To that end, Member States should ensure that effective national procedures are in place to enforce compliance with the obligations laid down by this Directive, and that those procedures are available to all persons and legal entities having a legitimate interest, in accordance with national law, in ensuring that the provisions of this Directive are respected.

(11)

Paragraph 47 of the outcome document of the United Nations Rio+20 conference, entitled ‘The Future We Want’, recognises the importance of corporate sustainability reporting and encourages undertakings, where appropriate, to consider integrating sustainability information into their reporting cycle. It also encourages industry, interested governments and relevant stakeholders with the support of the United Nations system, as appropriate, to develop models for best practice, and facilitate action for the integration of financial and non-financial information, taking into account experiences from already existing frameworks.

(12)

Investors' access to non-financial information is a step towards reaching the milestone of having in place by 2020 market and policy incentives rewarding business investments in efficiency under the roadmap to a resource-efficient Europe.

(13)

The European Council, in its conclusions of 24 and 25 March 2011, called for the overall regulatory burden, in particular for small and medium-sized enterprises (‘SMEs’), to be reduced at both European and national levels, and suggested measures to increase productivity, while the Europe 2020 Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth aims to improve the business environment for SMEs and to promote their internationalisation. Thus, in accordance with the ‘think small first’ principle, the new disclosure requirements should apply only to certain large undertakings and groups.

(14)

The scope of those non-financial disclosure requirements should be defined by reference to the average number of employees, balance sheet total and net turnover. SMEs should be exempted from additional requirements, and the obligation to disclose a non-financial statement should apply only to those large undertakings which are public-interest entities and to those public-interest entities which are parent undertakings of a large group, in each case having an average number of employees in excess of 500, in the case of a group on a consolidated basis. This should not prevent Member States from requiring disclosure of non-financial information from undertakings and groups other than undertakings which are subject to this Directive.

(15)

Many of the undertakings which fall within the scope of Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) are members of groups of undertakings. Consolidated management reports should be drawn up so that the information concerning such groups of undertakings may be conveyed to members and third parties. National law governing consolidated management reports should therefore be coordinated in order to achieve the objectives of comparability and consistency of the information which undertakings should publish within the Union.

(16)

Statutory auditors and audit firms should only check that the non-financial statement or the separate report has been provided. In addition, it should be possible for Member States to require that the information included in the non-financial statement or in the separate report be verified by an independent assurance services provider.

(17)

With a view to facilitating the disclosure of non-financial information by undertakings, the Commission should prepare non-binding guidelines, including general and sectoral non-financial key performance indicators. The Commission should take into account current best practices, international developments and the results of related Union initiatives. The Commission should carry out appropriate consultations, including with relevant stakeholders. When referring to environmental aspects, the Commission should cover at least land use, water use, greenhouse gas emissions and the use of materials.

(18)

Diversity of competences and views of the members of administrative, management and supervisory bodies of undertakings facilitates a good understanding of the business organisation and affairs of the undertaking concerned. It enables members of those bodies to constructively challenge the management decisions and to be more open to innovative ideas, addressing the similarity of views of members, also known as the ‘group-think’ phenomenon. It contributes thus to effective oversight of the management and to successful governance of the undertaking. It is therefore important to enhance transparency regarding the diversity policy applied. This would inform the market of corporate governance practices and thus put indirect pressure on undertakings to have more diversified boards.

(19)

The obligation to disclose diversity policies in relation to the administrative, management and supervisory bodies with regard to aspects such as, for instance, age, gender or educational and professional backgrounds should apply only to certain large undertakings. Disclosure of the diversity policy should be part of the corporate governance statement, as laid down by Article 20 of Directive 2013/34/EU. If no diversity policy is applied there should not be any obligation to put one in place, but the corporate governance statement should include a clear explanation as to why this is the case.

(20)

Initiatives at Union level, including country-by-country reporting for several sectors, as well as the references made by the European Council, in its conclusions of 22 May 2013 and of 19 and 20 December 2013, to country-by-country reporting by large companies and groups, similar provisions in Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (4), and international efforts to improve transparency in financial reporting have been noted. Within the context of the G8 and the G20, the OECD has been asked to draw up a standardised reporting template for multinational undertakings to report to tax authorities where they make their profits and pay taxes around the world. Such developments complement the proposals contained in this Directive, as appropriate measures for their respective purposes.

(21)

Since the objective of this Directive, namely to increase the relevance, consistency and comparability of information disclosed by certain large undertakings and groups across the Union, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States but can rather, by reason of its effect, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality as set out in that Article, this Directive does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective.

(22)

This Directive respects the fundamental rights and observes the principles recognised in particular by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, including freedom to conduct a business, respect for private life and the protection of personal data. This Directive has to be implemented in accordance with those rights and principles.

(23)

Directive 2013/34/EU should therefore be amended accordingly,

(1)

The following Article is inserted:

‘Article 19a

Non-financial statement

1.   Large undertakings which are public-interest entities exceeding on their balance sheet dates the criterion of the average number of 500 employees during the financial year shall include in the management report a non-financial statement containing information to the extent necessary for an understanding of the undertaking's development, performance, position and impact of its activity, relating to, as a minimum, environmental, social and employee matters, respect for human rights, anti-corruption and bribery matters, including:

Where the undertaking does not pursue policies in relation to one or more of those matters, the non-financial statement shall provide a clear and reasoned explanation for not doing so.

The non-financial statement referred to in the first subparagraph shall also, where appropriate, include references to, and additional explanations of, amounts reported in the annual financial statements.

Member States may allow information relating to impending developments or matters in the course of negotiation to be omitted in exceptional cases where, in the duly justified opinion of the members of the administrative, management and supervisory bodies, acting within the competences assigned to them by national law and having collective responsibility for that opinion, the disclosure of such information would be seriously prejudicial to the commercial position of the undertaking, provided that such omission does not prevent a fair and balanced understanding of the undertaking's development, performance, position and impact of its activity.

In requiring the disclosure of the information referred to in the first subparagraph, Member States shall provide that undertakings may rely on national, Union-based or international frameworks, and if they do so, undertakings shall specify which frameworks they have relied upon.

2.   Undertakings fulfilling the obligation set out in paragraph 1 shall be deemed to have fulfilled the obligation relating to the analysis of non-financial information set out in the third subparagraph of Article 19(1).

3.   An undertaking which is a subsidiary undertaking shall be exempted from the obligation set out in paragraph 1 if that undertaking and its subsidiary undertakings are included in the consolidated management report or the separate report of another undertaking, drawn up in accordance with Article 29 and this Article.

4.   Where an undertaking prepares a separate report corresponding to the same financial year whether or not relying on national, Union-based or international frameworks and covering the information required for the non-financial statement as provided for in paragraph 1, Member States may exempt that undertaking from the obligation to prepare the non-financial statement laid down in paragraph 1, provided that such separate report:

Paragraph 2 shall apply mutatis mutandis to undertakings preparing a separate report as referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph.

5.   Member States shall ensure that the statutory auditor or audit firm checks whether the non-financial statement referred to in paragraph 1 or the separate report referred to in paragraph 4 has been provided.

6.   Member States may require that the information in the non-financial statement referred to in paragraph 1 or in the separate report referred to in paragraph 4 be verified by an independent assurance services provider.’

(2)

Article 20 is amended as follows:

(3)

The following Article is inserted:

‘Article 29a

Consolidated non-financial statement

1.   Public-interest entities which are parent undertakings of a large group exceeding on its balance sheet dates, on a consolidated basis, the criterion of the average number of 500 employees during the financial year shall include in the consolidated management report a consolidated non-financial statement containing information to the extent necessary for an understanding of the group's development, performance, position and impact of its activity, relating to, as a minimum, environmental, social and employee matters, respect for human rights, anti-corruption and bribery matters, including:

Where the group does not pursue policies in relation to one or more of those matters, the consolidated non-financial statement shall provide a clear and reasoned explanation for not doing so.

The consolidated non-financial statement referred to in the first subparagraph shall also, where appropriate, include references to, and additional explanations of, amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements.

Member States may allow information relating to impending developments or matters in the course of negotiation to be omitted in exceptional cases where, in the duly justified opinion of the members of the administrative, management and supervisory bodies, acting within the competences assigned to them by national law and having collective responsibility for that opinion, the disclosure of such information would be seriously prejudicial to the commercial position of the group, provided that such omission does not prevent a fair and balanced understanding of the group's development, performance, position and impact of its activity.

In requiring the disclosure of the information referred to in the first subparagraph, Member States shall provide that the parent undertaking may rely on national, Union-based or international frameworks, and if it does so, the parent undertaking shall specify which frameworks it has relied upon.

2.   A parent undertaking fulfilling the obligation set out in paragraph 1 shall be deemed to have fulfilled the obligation relating to the analysis of non-financial information set out in the third subparagraph of Article 19(1) and in Article 29.

3.   A parent undertaking which is also a subsidiary undertaking shall be exempted from the obligation set out in paragraph 1 if that exempted parent undertaking and its subsidiaries are included in the consolidated management report or the separate report of another undertaking, drawn up in accordance with Article 29 and this Article.

4.   Where a parent undertaking prepares a separate report corresponding to the same financial year, referring to the whole group, whether or not relying on national, Union-based or international frameworks and covering the information required for the consolidated non-financial statement as provided for in paragraph 1, Member States may exempt that parent undertaking from the obligation to prepare the consolidated non-financial statement laid down in paragraph 1, provided that such separate report:

Paragraph 2 shall apply mutatis mutandis to parent undertakings preparing a separate report as referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph.

5.   Member States shall ensure that the statutory auditor or audit firm checks whether the consolidated non-financial statement referred to in paragraph 1 or the separate report referred to in paragraph 4 has been provided.

6.   Member States may require that the information in the consolidated non-financial statement referred to in paragraph 1 or in the separate report referred to in paragraph 4 be verified by an independent assurance services provider.’

(4)

In Article 33, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

‘1.   Member States shall ensure that the members of the administrative, management and supervisory bodies of an undertaking, acting within the competences assigned to them by national law, have collective responsibility for ensuring that:

are drawn up and published in accordance with the requirements of this Directive and, where applicable, with the international accounting standards adopted in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002.’

(5)

In Article 34, the following paragraph is added:

‘3.   This Article shall not apply to the non-financial statement referred to in Article 19a(1) and the consolidated non-financial statement referred to in Article 29a(1) or to the separate reports referred to in Articles 19a(4) and 29a(4).’

(6)

In Article 48, the following paragraph is inserted before the last paragraph:

‘The report shall also consider, taking into account developments in the OECD and the results of related European initiatives, the possibility of introducing an obligation requiring large undertakings to produce on an annual basis a country-by-country report for each Member State and third country in which they operate, containing information on, as a minimum, profits made, taxes paid on profits and public subsidies received.’

15.11.2014   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 330/10

(1)

In accordance with Council Decision 2013/671/EU (1), the Agreement between the European Union and the French Republic concerning the application to the collectivity of Saint-Barthélemy of Union legislation on the taxation of savings and administrative cooperation in the field of taxation (hereinafter ‘the Agreement’) was signed on 17 February 2014, subject to its conclusion at a later date.

(2)

The purpose of the Agreement is to ensure that the mechanisms of Council Directive 2011/16/EU (2) and Council Directive 2003/48/EC (3), designed in particular to combat fraud and cross-border tax evasion, continue to apply to Saint-Barthélemy despite its changed status.

(3)

The Agreement should be concluded,

15.11.2014   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 330/12

(1)

The collectivity of Saint-Barthélemy is an integral part of the French Republic but, in accordance with European Council Decision 2010/718/EU, (1) it is no longer part of the European Union from 1 January 2012.

(2)

In order to continue to protect the interests of the Union, and in particular, to combat fraud and cross-border tax evasion, it is necessary to ensure that Union legislation on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation and on taxation of savings income in the form of interest payments continues to apply to the collectivity of Saint-Barthélemy. It is equally necessary to ensure that any acts amending this legislation will also apply to the collectivity of Saint-Barthélemy,

15.11.2014   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 330/16

(1)

Article 43(3) of the Treaty provides that the Council is to adopt measures on the fixing and allocation of fishing opportunities, on a proposal from the Commission.

(2)

Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1) requires that conservation measures are adopted taking into account available scientific, technical and economic advice, including, where relevant, reports drawn up by the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) and other advisory bodies, as well as in the light of any advice received from Advisory Councils.

(3)

It is incumbent upon the Council to adopt measures on the fixing and allocation of fishing opportunities, including certain conditions functionally linked thereto, as appropriate. Fishing opportunities should be allocated to Member States in such a way as to ensure relative stability of fishing activities of each Member State for each stock or fishery and having due regard to the objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) established in Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013.

(4)

The total allowable catches (TACs) should therefore be established, in line with Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 and taking into account the principles mentioned in recital 2.

(5)

For small pelagic (herring and sprat), cod and salmon fisheries in the Baltic Sea the landing obligation provided for in Article 15(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 applies from 1 January 2015. Article 16(2) of that Regulation provides that, when the landing obligation is introduced in respect of a fish stock, fishing opportunities are to be fixed taking into account the change from fixing fishing opportunities that reflect landings to fixing fishing opportunities that reflect catches.

(6)

For stocks subject to specific multiannual plans, the fishing opportunities should be established in accordance with the rules laid down in those plans. Consequently, the catch limits should be established in accordance with the rules laid down in Council Regulation (EC) No 1098/2007 (2) (the ‘Baltic Sea Cod Plan’).

(7)

The scientific advice provided in respect of fishing effort for Baltic cod by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) indicated that where a landing obligation applies to a specific stock, fixing of lower effort limitations would not contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the reformed CFP. It is, therefore, appropriate to fix the effort limits for cod stocks in ICES subdivisions 22-24 at the level of 2014. Fixing the fishing effort limits at the level of 2014 will facilitate the introduction of the landing obligation and will contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the CFP as defined in Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013.

(8)

In the light of the scientific advice provided, flexibility in the management of the fishing effort for cod stock in ICES subdivisions 22-24 in the Baltic Sea can be introduced without jeopardising the objectives of the Baltic Sea Cod Plan and without causing an increase in fishing mortality. Such flexibility would allow for a more efficient management of the fishing effort where quotas are not allocated equally among the fleet of a Member State and would facilitate swift reactions to quota exchanges. A Member State should, therefore, be allowed to allocate additional days absent from port to fishing vessels flying its flag where an equal amount of days absent from port is withdrawn from other fishing vessels flying its flag.

(9)

Recent scientific advice shows that ICES could not establish the biological reference points for cod stocks in ICES subdivisions 25-32 and instead it advised that the TAC for that cod stock be based on the data limited approach. The absence of biological reference points makes it impossible to follow the rules for setting the fishing opportunities for cod stocks in ICES subdivisions 25-32. As not fixing fishing opportunities could constitute a serious threat to the sustainability of that stock, it is appropriate to fix the TAC for those cod stocks at a level corresponding to the approach developed and advised by ICES and to fix fishing effort limits at the level of 2014. Fixing the fishing effort limits at the level of 2014 will facilitate the introduction of the landing obligation, will provide for more selective fishing and will contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the CFP as defined in Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013.

(10)

The use of fishing opportunities set out in this Regulation is subject to Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 (3), and in particular Articles 33 and 34 of that Regulation, concerning the recording of catches and fishing effort and the information on data on the exhaustion of fishing opportunities respectively. It is therefore necessary to specify the codes relating to landings of stocks subject to this Regulation which are to be used by the Member States when sending data to the Commission.

(11)

Council Regulation (EC) No 847/96 (4) introduced additional conditions for year-to-year management of TACs, including flexibility provisions under Articles 3 and 4 for precautionary and analytical TACs respectively. Under Article 2 of that Regulation, when fixing the TACs, the Council is to decide to which stocks Articles 3 or 4 shall not apply, in particular on the basis of the biological status of the stocks. More recently, the year-to-year flexibility mechanism was introduced by Article 15(9) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 for all stocks that are subject to the landing obligation. Therefore, in order to avoid excessive flexibility that would undermine the principle of rational and responsible exploitation of living marine biological resources, hinder the achievement of the objectives of CFP and deteriorate the biological status of the stocks, it should be established that Articles 3 and 4 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 apply to analytical TACs only where the year-to-year flexibility provided for in Article 15(9) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 is not used.

(12)

The scientific advice on sprat in the North Sea covers the period from July to June the following year, even though the TAC is set for the period from January to December. The latest scientific advice for the period from July 2014 to June 2015 indicates that the TAC can be significantly increased. There is therefore a greater availability of sprat in the second half of 2014 than was foreseen. Since that stock is subject to an analytical assessment and is within safe biological limits, the conditions for the application of Articles 3 and 4 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 allowing inter-annual quota flexibility are fulfilled, and should be permitted in order to allow the fisheries to utilise the increased availability of sprat in the most efficient way. Regulation (EU) No 43/2014 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(13)

Regulation (EU) No 43/2014 currently allows that a Member State use any unused quantities in 2015, up to 10 % of the quota available to it in 2014, in respect of certain stocks. On 6 August 2014, the Russian Federation imposed an embargo on the importation of certain agricultural and fisheries products from the Union. As a consequence, some of the exports that producers had envisaged to make to Russia in the autumn of 2014 have become impossible and in some cases alternative markets cannot be found at short notice. In view of those exceptional circumstances and the urgency of the matter, it is necessary to allow certain adjustments for the 2014 fishing season. In view of positive scientific advice as well as a positive approach of the relevant coastal states, it is appropriate to allow, exceptionally and only in respect of the stocks that are the most severely or directly affected by the Russian embargo, an increase in the percentage of the quantities unused in 2014 that can be carried over to 2015. That exceptional measure is limited to the 2014 fishing season. It is expected that this measure would allow new markets to be found or catches to be adapted should the embargo continue to apply in 2015. For the same reasons, a corresponding possibility to transfer unused fishing opportunities should be introduced in Council Regulation (EU) No 1180/2013 (5). Regulations (EU) No 43/2014 and (EU) No 1180/2013 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(14)

In order to avoid interruption of fishing activities and to ensure the livelihoods of Union fishermen, this Regulation should apply from 1 January 2015. For reasons of urgency, this Regulation should enter into force immediately after its publication. For reasons set out in recital 13, the provisions concerning the possibility to transfer fishing opportunities unused in 2014 should apply with effect from 1 January 2014,

(1)

‘ICES’ means International Council for the Exploration of the Sea;

(2)

‘Baltic Sea’ means ICES zones IIIb, IIIc and IIId;

(3)

‘subdivision’ means an ICES subdivision of the Baltic sea as defined in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 2187/2005 (6);

(4)

‘fishing vessel’ means any vessel equipped for commercial exploitation of marine biological resources;

(5)

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

(6)

‘fishing effort’ means the product of the capacity and the activity of a fishing vessel; for a group of fishing vessels it is the sum of the fishing effort of all fishing vessels in the group;

(7)

‘stock’ means a marine biological resource that occurs in a given management area;

(8)

‘total allowable catch’ (TAC) means the quantity of each stock that can be:

(9)

‘quota’ means a proportion of the TAC allocated to the Union, a Member State or a third country;

(10)

‘days absent from port’ means any continuous period of 24 hours or part thereof during which a fishing vessel is not present in a port.

(a)

exchanges made pursuant to Article 16(8) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013;

(b)

deductions and reallocations made pursuant to Article 37 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009;

(c)

additional landings allowed under Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 or under Article 15(9) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013;

(d)

quantities withheld in accordance with Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 or transferred under Article 15(9) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013;

(e)

deductions made pursuant to Articles 105, 106 and 107 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.

(1)

Article 18a is amended as follows:

(2)

in Annex IA, the entry for sprat and associated by-catches in Union waters of IIa and IV shall be replaced by the following:

(1)

the following Article is inserted:

‘Article 5a

Flexibility in the fixing of fishing opportunities of certain stocks

1.   This Article shall apply to the following stocks:

2.   Any quantities up to 25 % of a Member State's quota of the stocks identified in paragraph 1 that have not been used in 2014 shall be added for the purpose of calculating the quota of the Member State concerned for the relevant stock for 2015. Any quantities transferred to other Member States pursuant to Article 16(8) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (9) as well as any quantities deducted pursuant to Articles 37, 105 and 107 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 shall be taken into account for the purpose of establishing quantities used and quantities not used under this paragraph.

3.   Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 shall not apply to stocks identified in paragraph 1 of this Article in respect of the Member States concerned.

(9)  Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 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).’"

(2)

in Annex I, the following footnote shall be included in respect of entries concerning the following stocks: herring in subdivisions 30-31; herring in Union waters of subdivisions 25-27, 28.2, 29 and 32; herring in subdivision 28.1; sprat in Union waters of subdivisions 22-32:

‘Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 shall not apply.

Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 shall not apply.’

15.11.2014   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 330/27

(1)

Directive 2013/36/EU empowers competent or designated authorities of the Member States to impose higher own funds requirements on global systemically important institutions (G-SIIs) in order to compensate for the higher risk that G-SIIs represent for the financial system and the potential impact of their failure on taxpayers. That Directive outlines certain basic principles of a methodology for the identification of G-SIIs and for the allocation of G-SIIs to subcategories in accordance with their systemic relevance. In accordance with that allocation they will be assigned an additional Common Equity Tier 1 capital requirement, the G-SII buffer. That methodology of identification and allocation of G-SIIs is based on five categories measuring the systemic significance of a bank for the global financial market, and is further specified in this Regulation.

(2)

In order to follow the approach of Directive 2013/36/EU, this Regulation should take into account standards for the methodology of assessing global systemically important banks and for the higher loss absorbency requirement by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, that are based on the framework for global systemically important financial institutions established by the Financial Stability Board following the report ‘Reducing the moral hazard posed by systemically important financial institutions — FSB Recommendations and Time Lines’.

(3)

Directive 2013/36/EU makes clear that the identification and allocation methodology is harmonised in all Member States by the use of uniform and transparent parameters for determining an overall score of an entity to measure its systemic importance. In order to ensure that the sample of banks and banking groups both of the Union and authorised in third countries serving as a reference to reflect the global financial system are uniform across the Union, the European Banking Authority (EBA) should determine that sample. Exclusions and additions to that sample based on supervisory judgment should be chosen strictly to ensure its function as a term of reference and should not be based on other grounds.

(4)

The G-SII identification process should be based on comparable data and should take into account that institutions need clarity as to whether and in which amount a buffer requirement will apply to them, therefore, timelines and procedures for that process should be included in the methodology. However, since the identification of G-SIIs should be based on up-to-date data relating to the sample of large global banking groups some of which are authorised in third countries, the data needed will not be available earlier than the second half of each year. In order to enable institutions to comply with the requirements resulting from their status as a G-SII, the buffer requirement should take effect as of approximately one year following their identification as a G-SII.

(5)

Directive 2013/36/EU sets out five categories measuring systemic significance, which consist of quantifiable indicators. In order to minimise the administrative burden for institutions and authorities, those categories are identical to those applied by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. In further defining the quantifiable indicators, this Regulation should follow the same approach. The indicators should be chosen to reflect the different aspects of potential negative externalities of an entity's failure and its critical functions for the stability of the financial system. The reference system for assessing systemic significance should be the global financial markets and the global economy.

(6)

In order to set out a precise methodology for identifying and classifying G-SIIs in accordance with the basic rules set out in Directive 2013/36/EU, it is important to clearly circumscribe the notions of ‘relevant entity’, ‘indicator value’, ‘denominator’ and ‘cut-off score’ by defining them for the purposes of this Regulation.

(7)

The systemic significance of each banking group measured by the indicators on a consolidated basis should be expressed as an individual overall score for a certain year measuring its position relative to other entities in the sample. Banks should be identified as G-SIIs and allocated to the sub-categories to which different capital buffer requirements will apply, based on that overall score. When calculating the score as the average of the category scores, each of the five categories should receive a weighting of 20 %. A cap should be applied to the substitutability category for the purpose of calculating the overall score given that, on the basis of an analysis of data until and including the year 2013, that category proved to have a disproportionately high impact on the score for banks that are dominant in the provision of payment, underwriting and asset custody services.

(8)

Relevant authorities should have the option to use sound supervisory judgment to re-allocate a G-SII from a lower subcategory to a higher subcategory or to designate an entity as a G-SII that has an overall score that is lower than the cut-off score of the lowest subcategory. As that identification by supervisory judgment shares the same objective as the regular scoring process, the criterion upon which this judgment is to be based should also be the bank's systemic significance for the global financial market and the global economy, consistent with the methodology used by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. The failure risk of the bank should not be a criterion, as it is already accounted for in other prudential requirements, inter alia, in the total risk exposure amount and, where applicable, in further own fund requirements such as the systemic risk buffer.

(9)

This Regulation is based on the draft regulatory technical standards submitted by the EBA to the Commission.

(10)

The EBA has conducted open public consultations on the draft regulatory technical standards on which this Regulation is based, analysed the potential related costs and benefits and requested the opinion of the Stakeholder Group established in accordance with Article 37 of Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2).

(11)

This Regulation should apply from 1 January 2015, as the requirement to maintain a G-SII buffer set out in Article 131(4) of Directive 2013/36/EU will apply and be phased in from 1 January 2016. Therefore and to inform institutions in a timely manner of the G-SII buffer applicable to them and to give them sufficient time to raise the required capital, G-SIIs should be identified in early 2015 at the latest.

(12)

The G-SII buffer requirement should be phased in over a period of three years in accordance with Article 162(5) of Directive 2013/36/EU: the first step of the requirement referred to in Article 162(5)(a) of Directive 2013/36/EU should apply from 1 January 2016 for those G-SIIs which have been identified by relevant authorities in early 2015, on the basis of data of financial year-ends prior to July 2014. The second step referred to in Article 162(5)(b) of Directive 2013/36/EU of the G-SII buffer requirement should apply from 1 January 2017 for those G-SIIs which have been identified by relevant authorities by the end of 2015 or, at the latest, the beginning of 2016, on the basis of data of financial year-ends prior to July 2015,

(1)

‘Relevant entity’ means an EU parent institution or EU parent financial holding company or EU parent mixed financial holding company or an institution that is not a subsidiary of an EU parent institution or EU parent financial holding company or EU parent mixed financial holding company;

(2)

‘Indicator value’ means for each indicator set out in Article 6 and for each relevant entity of the sample the individual value of the indicator and for each bank authorised in a third country a comparable individual value publicly disclosed in accordance with internationally agreed standards;

(3)

‘Denominator’ means for each indicator the total aggregate value of the indicator values of the relevant entities and banks authorised in third countries of the sample;

(4)

‘Cut-off score’ means a score value determining the lowest boundary and the boundaries between the five subcategories as defined in Article 131(9) of Directive 2013/36/EU.

(a)

subcategory 1 shall encompass scores from 130 to 229 base points;

(b)

subcategory 2 shall encompass scores from 230 to 329 base points;

(c)

subcategory 3 shall encompass scores from 330 to 429 base points;

(d)

subcategory 4 shall encompass scores from 430 to 529 base points;

(e)

subcategory 5 shall encompass scores from 530 to 629 base points.

(a)

intra-financial system assets;

(b)

intra-financial system liabilities;

(c)

securities outstanding.

(a)

assets under custody;

(b)

payments activity;

(c)

underwritten transactions in debt and equity markets.

(a)

notional amount of over-the-counter derivatives;

(b)

assets included in the level 3 of fair-value measured in accordance with Commission Regulation (EU) No 1255/2012 (4);

(c)

trading and available-for-sale securities.

(a)

cross-jurisdictional claims;

(b)

cross-jurisdictional liabilities.

15.11.2014   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 330/37

(1)

Article 544 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 (2) provides for a simplification in the discharge of the inward processing procedure. Under that simplification, certain import goods are regarded as having been re-exported or exported, although they were actually put on the Union market without a subsequent customs declaration and payment of import duties.

(2)

Article 544(c) of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 covers the delivery of civil aircraft. The simplification in the discharge of the inward processing procedure regarding civil aircraft enhances the competitiveness of the aviation industry at international level and contributes to the creation of added value in the Union.

(3)

The scope of Article 544(c) of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 should be extended to military aircraft so that those aircraft benefit from the simplified discharge of the inward processing procedure in the same way as civil aircraft.

(4)

Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(5)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Customs Code Committee,

15.11.2014   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 330/38

(1)

Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 lays down, pursuant to the outcome of the Uruguay Round multilateral trade negotiations, the criteria whereby the Commission fixes the standard values for imports from third countries, in respect of the products and periods stipulated in Annex XVI, Part A thereto.

(2)

The standard import value is calculated each working day, in accordance with Article 136(1) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011, taking into account variable daily data. Therefore this Regulation should enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union,

15.11.2014   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 330/40

(1)

The Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Korea, of the other part (1) (‘the Agreement’) was signed on 6 October 2010. The Agreement contains a Protocol on Cultural Cooperation (‘the Protocol’) which, according to Article 1 thereof, sets up the framework within which the Parties cooperate for facilitating exchanges regarding cultural activities, goods and services, including, inter alia, in the audiovisual sector.

(2)

Pursuant to Article 15.10.5 of the Agreement, it has been provisionally applied in part by Council Decision 2011/265/EU (2) (‘the Decision’) since 1 July 2011, pending the completion of the procedures for its conclusion.

(3)

Pursuant to Article 6 of the Decision, the position to be taken by the Union in the Committee on Cultural Cooperation (‘the Committee’) on decisions having legal effects shall be determined by the Council acting in accordance with the Treaty.

(4)

Article 3bis of the Protocol provides that the Committee shall, promptly after its establishment, establish a list of 15 individuals to serve as arbitrators.

(5)

The Union should determine the position to be taken in the Committee with regard to the establishment of the list of arbitrators.

(6)

The position of the Union within the Committee should therefore be based on the attached draft Decision,

15.11.2014   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 330/44

(1)

By letter registered with the Secretariat-General of the Commission on 16 May 2014, Lithuania requested authorisation for a measure derogating from Article 287(11) of the VAT Directive in order to continue to exempt certain taxable persons whose annual turnover is no higher than the equivalent in national currency of EUR 45 000 at the conversion rate on the day of its accession to the Union (‘the measure’). The measure would release those taxable persons from certain or all of the obligations in relation to value added tax (VAT) referred to in Chapters 2 to 6 of Title XI of the VAT Directive.

(2)

By letter dated 6 June 2014, the Commission informed the other Member States of the request made by Lithuania. By letter dated 12 June 2014, the Commission notified Lithuania that it had all the information necessary to consider the request.

(3)

A special scheme for small enterprises is already available to Member States under Title XII of the VAT Directive. The extended measure derogates from Title XII of the VAT Directive only in so far as the taxable person's annual turnover threshold for the special scheme is higher than that allowed for Lithuania under Article 287(11) of the VAT Directive, which is EUR 29 000.

(4)

By Council Implementing Decision 2011/335/EU, (2) Lithuania was authorised, as a derogating measure, to exempt taxable persons whose annual turnover is no higher than EUR 45 000 until 31 December 2014. Given that this threshold has resulted in reduced VAT obligations for smaller businesses, Lithuania should be authorised to extend the measure for a further limited period. Taxable persons may still opt for the normal VAT arrangements.

(5)

From information provided by Lithuania, the extension of the derogation will only have a negligible impact on the overall amount of tax revenue collected at the final stage of consumption.

(6)

The derogation has no impact on the Union's own resources accruing from VAT,

15.11.2014   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 330/46

(1)

By letter registered with the Secretariat-General of the Commission on 1 July 2014, Latvia requested authorisation for a measure derogating from Article 287(10) of the VAT Directive in order to exempt certain taxable persons whose annual turnover is no higher than EUR 50 000 (‘the measure’). The measure would release those taxable persons from certain or all of the obligations in relation to value added tax (VAT) referred to in Chapters 2 to 6 of Title XI of the VAT Directive. Such measure had already been granted to Latvia by Council Implementing Decision 2010/584/EU (2) which expired on 31 December 2013.

(2)

By letter dated 7 August 2014, the Commission informed the other Member States of the request made by Latvia. By letter dated 11 August 2014, the Commission notified Latvia that it had all the information necessary to consider the request.

(3)

A special scheme for small enterprises is already available to Member States under Title XII of the VAT Directive. The measure derogates from Title XII of the VAT Directive only in so far as the taxable person's annual turnover threshold for the special scheme is higher than that allowed for Latvia under Article 287(10) of the VAT Directive, which is EUR 17 200.

(4)

A higher threshold for the special scheme is a simplification measure as it may significantly reduce the VAT obligations of the smallest businesses, whilst that special scheme is optional for taxable persons and allows businesses to opt for the normal VAT arrangements.

(5)

From information provided by Latvia, the derogation will only have a negligible impact on the overall amount of tax revenue collected at the final stage of consumption.

(6)

The derogation has no impact on the Union's own resources accruing from VAT,

15.11.2014   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 330/48

(1)

By letter registered with the Commission on 26 May 2014, Estonia requested authorisation to derogate from the provisions of Directive 2006/112/EC governing the right to deduct input tax in relation to passenger cars.

(2)

By letter dated 11 June 2014, the Commission informed the other Member States of the request made by Estonia. By letter dated 12 June 2014, the Commission notified Estonia that it had all the information it considered necessary to consider the request.

(3)

Articles 168 and 168a of Directive 2006/112/EC establish a taxable person's right to deduct value added tax (VAT) charged on supplies of goods and services received by that person for the use of that person's taxed transactions. Point (a) of Article 26(1) of that Directive requires taxable persons to account for VAT when a business asset is put to non-business use.

(4)

Non-business use is often very difficult to identify accurately and even where it is possible, the mechanism for doing so is often burdensome. Under the requested authorisation, the amount of VAT on expenditure eligible for deduction in respect of passenger cars which are not used entirely for business purposes should, with some exceptions, be set at a flat percentage rate. Based on currently available information, the Estonian authorities believe that a rate of 50 % is justifiable. At the same time, in order to avoid double taxation, the requirement of accounting for VAT on the non-business use of passenger cars should be suspended where those cars have been subject to a limitation authorised by this Decision. That simplification measure removes the need to keep records on the non-business use of business cars and prevents tax evasion through incorrect record keeping.

(5)

The limitation of the right of deduction under the requested authorisation should apply to VAT paid on the purchase, leasing, intra-Community acquisition and importation of specified passenger cars and on expenditure related thereto, including the purchase of fuel.

(6)

The requested authorisation should only apply to passenger cars with a maximum authorised weight not exceeding 3 500 kilograms and having no more than eight seats in addition to the driver's seat. Any non-business use of passenger cars exceeding 3 500 kilograms or having more than eight seats in addition to the driver's seat is negligible due to the characteristics of those cars or the type of business for which they are used. A detailed list of categories of passenger cars not authorised should also be provided, based on their particular use.

(7)

The authorisation should be limited in time until 31 December 2017, to allow for a review of its necessity and effectiveness and the apportionment rate between the business and non-business use that it is based on.

(8)

In the event that Estonia considers an extension of the authorisation beyond 2017 to be necessary, it should submit a report to the Commission, no later than 31 March 2017, which includes a review of the percentage applied together with the request for an extension.

(9)

The derogation will only have a negligible effect on the overall amount of tax revenue collected at the stage of final consumption and will have no adverse impact on the Union's own resources accruing from VAT,

(a)

cars purchased for resale, hire or lease;

(b)

cars used for transportation of passengers for a fee, including taxi services;

(c)

cars used for the provision of driving lessons.

15.11.2014   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 330/50

(1)

Directive 64/432/EEC lays down the animal health conditions governing intra-Union trade in bovine animals and swine. It provides, inter alia, that bovine animals and swine must be accompanied during transportation to destination by a health certificate conforming to Model 1 or 2 as appropriate, set out in Annex F thereto.

(2)

In accordance with Article 1 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 599/2004 (2), the various health certificates required in the context of intra-Union trade are to be presented on the basis of the harmonised model annexed to that Regulation.

(3)

With a view to adaptations to be made to the content of the health certificates set out as Model 1 and 2 in Annex F to Directive 64/432/EEC, it is necessary to also adapt the format of those model health certificates.

(4)

The provisions of paragraphs 2(e) and 3 in Article 6 of Directive 64/432/EEC have expired on 31 December 2000 and should therefore no longer constitute a certification option in the model health certificate set out as Model 1 in Annex F to that Directive.

(5)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 2075/2005 (3) lays down rules for the determination of the status of holdings where domestic swine are kept.

(6)

Commission Regulation (EU) No 216/2014 (4) amending Regulation (EC) No 2075/2005 provides for requirements that must be met by food business operators to obtain official recognition of holdings applying controlled housing conditions and grants derogation from testing provisions at slaughter to such holdings.

(7)

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1114/2014 (5) amending Regulation (EC) No 2075/2005 clarifies which conditions apply when domestic swine for breeding and production are moved from one to another holding via assembly centres.

(8)

In order to enable Member States to apply the appropriate Trichinella testing regime at slaughter and not to jeopardize the status of the holding of destination of domestic swine for breeding and production the information on the official recognition of the holding of origin of animals being traded, as applying controlled housing conditions as provided for in Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 2075/2005, shall be included in the model health certificate for intra-Union trade in swine set out as Model 2 in Annex F to Directive 64/432/EEC.

(9)

Annex F to Directive 64/432/EEC should therefore be amended accordingly.

(10)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,

15.11.2014   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 330/61

(1)

Article 2(6)(d) of Annex III to the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement requires the ACP-EU Committee of Ambassadors to monitor the overall strategy of the CDE and to supervise the work of the Executive Board of the CDE.

(2)

The Executive Board of the CDE shall supervise the work of the CDE (Article 2(7)(b)), adopt the programme and the budget of the CDE (Article 2(7)(c)) and submit periodic reporting and evaluations to the ACP-EU Committee of Ambassadors (Article 2(7)(d)).

(3)

The CDE's Statutes and Rules of Procedure adopted by Decision No 8/2005 of the ACP-EC Committee of Ambassadors (the ‘CDE Statutes’) and the CDE's Financial Regulation adopted by Decision No 5/2004 of the ACP-EC Committee of Ambassadors (the ‘CDE Financial Regulation’), provide the safeguards in terms of information of and supervision by the ACP-EU Committee of Ambassadors.

(4)

At its 39th session held on 19 and 20 June 2014 in Nairobi, the ACP-EU Council of Ministers agreed, in a Joint Declaration, to proceed with the orderly closing of the CDE and the amendment of Annex III to the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement and, for this purpose, decided to grant a delegation of powers to the ACP-EU Committee of Ambassadors to take the matter forward with a view to adopting the necessary decisions.

(5)

The abovementioned Joint Declaration of the ACP-EU Council of Ministers established the ACP-EU Joint Working Group (the ‘JWG’) to ensure that the CDE is closed under the best possible conditions,