(1)

Council Regulation (EU) 2021/90 (1) fixes for 2021 the fishing opportunities for fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. That Regulation implements in Union law the multiannual management plan for turbot fisheries in the Black Sea (geographical subarea 29) adopted by Recommendation GFCM/41/2017/4 of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), as amended by Recommendation GFCM/43/2019/3 of the GFCM.

(2)

At its 44th annual meeting in 2021, the GFCM adopted a decision observing that during the year 2020, the European Union had underexploited its quota for turbot and approving a carry-over of the unused quota in view of the exceptional situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The GFCM decision should be implemented in Union law.

(3)

The distribution of fishing opportunities in the Black Sea established in Regulation (EU) 2021/90 should therefore be amended to reflect the adjustments to the Union quotas established by the GFCM. The distribution of the fishing opportunities arising from the under-utilisation should be carried out on the basis of the respective contribution of each Member State towards the under-utilisation, without modifying the distribution key established in Regulation (EU) 2021/90 concerning the annual allocation of total allowable catches (TACs).

(4)

Regulation (EU) 2021/90 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(5)

The catch limits provided for in Regulation (EU) 2021/90 apply from 1 January 2021. The provisions introduced by this Regulation concerning those catch limits should therefore enter into force as soon as possible and apply retroactively from 1 January 2021. Such retroactive application does not affect the principles of legal certainty and the protection of legitimate expectations, as the fishing opportunities concerned are increased and have not yet been exhausted. For reasons of urgency, this Regulation should enter into force immediately after its publication,