(1)

On 29 March 2017, the United Kingdom submitted the notification of its intention to withdraw from the Union pursuant to Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU). The Treaties will cease to apply to the United Kingdom from the date of entry into force of a withdrawal agreement or, failing that, two years after that notification, namely from 30 March 2019, unless the European Council, in agreement with the United Kingdom, unanimously decides to extend that period.

(2)

The withdrawal agreement published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 19 February 2019 (2) contains arrangements for the application of provisions of Union law to the United Kingdom beyond the date on which the Treaties cease to apply to the United Kingdom. If that agreement enters into force, the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) will apply to the United Kingdom during the transition period in accordance with that agreement and will cease to apply at the end of that period.

(3)

When the CFP ceases to apply to the United Kingdom, United Kingdom waters (territorial sea and adjacent exclusive economic zone) will no longer be part of Union waters. Consequently, in the absence of a withdrawal agreement, Union vessels risk losing access to United Kingdom waters and fishing opportunities therein from 30 March 2019. This would have a significant impact in terms of fishing activities of the Union fleet and economic returns.

(4)

Measures are already available under Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) that can be used for mitigating the adverse economic effects due to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union throughout the whole chain of production and marketing.

(5)

Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 lays down the rules and arrangements for granting financial compensation to fishermen and owners of fishing vessels in cases of temporary cessation of fishing activities. The criteria to allow for temporary cessation do not allow for compensation due to the withdrawal of a Member State from the Union and the subsequent loss of access to and fishing opportunities within the waters of that State.

(6)

In addition to the measures already available under Regulation (EU) No 508/2014, in order to mitigate the adverse economic effects caused by the withdrawal of a Member State from the Union, public support for the temporary cessation of fishing activities should be available for fishermen and operators that have significant dependence on access to United Kingdom waters.

(7)

Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(8)

The remaining appropriations are available to be dedicated to any eligible measure mitigating the consequences of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union.

(9)

For the sake of simplification, Member States concerned are invited to consider combining amendments to their operational programme within the context of Article 22(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4).

(10)

In view of the need to ensure, prior to the date of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union, the availability of support under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund for temporary cessation of fishing activities by Union fishing vessels with significant dependence on access to United Kingdom waters in the event that the United Kingdom does not grant access to those waters from the date of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the Union, which could be 30 March 2019, it was considered appropriate to provide for an exception to the eight-week period referred to in Article 4 of Protocol No 1 on the role of national Parliaments in the European Union, annexed to the TEU, to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community.

(11)

This Regulation should enter into force as a matter of urgency on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union and should apply from the day following that on which the Treaties cease to apply to the United Kingdom, unless a withdrawal agreement concluded with the United Kingdom has entered into force by that date,

(1)

In Article 13, the following paragraph is added:

(2)

In Article 25, the following paragraph is inserted:

(3)

Article 33 is amended as follows: