(1)

On 9 June 2010 the Council authorised the Commission to enter into negotiations with the Republic of Uzbekistan to amend the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement establishing a partnership between the European Communities and their Member States, on the one part, and the Republic of Uzbekistan, of the other part (2) (hereinafter ‘the Agreement’), so as to ensure that the principles which apply to trade in other goods are also extended formally to trade in textile products. These negotiations have been successfully concluded and the Protocol amending the Agreement by deleting Article 16, and all references thereto, was initialled on 1 July 2010.

(2)

In the framework of the negotiations it was agreed between both parties to carry out a clean-up exercise and to delete an obsolete technical provision that expired in 1998 and the corresponding Annex referring to it.

(3)

In accordance with Council Decision 2011/250/EU (3) the Protocol to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement establishing a partnership between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Uzbekistan, of the other part, amending the Agreement in order to extend the provisions of the Agreement to bilateral trade in textiles, taking account of the expiry of the bilateral textiles Agreement (hereinafter ‘the Protocol’), was signed on 7 April 2011, subject to its conclusion.

(4)

The Protocol should be concluded,

(1)

The Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Uzbekistan, of the other part, entered into force on 1 July 1999.

(2)

Negotiations have taken place to ensure that the principles in the PCA which apply to trade in other goods are also extended formally to trade in textile products.

(3)

Appropriate amendments to the PCA should be adopted,

(1)

Article 8(3) is deleted;

(2)

in Article 11 the references to Article 16 are deleted;

(3)

Article 16 is deleted;

(4)

Annex I of the Agreement is deleted.

(1)

Council Regulation (EU) 2017/127 (1) fixes for 2017 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in Union waters and, for Union vessels, in certain non-Union waters.

(2)

The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) at its 91st Annual (Extraordinary) Meeting on 7-10 February 2017 adopted measures for yellowfin tuna, bigeye tuna and skipjack tuna in the IATTC Convention Area. Those measures should be implemented in the law of the Union.

(3)

In the Council Regulations regarding fishing opportunities for previous years, the total allowable catch (TAC) for picked dogfish was set at zero in the Atlantic Ocean, in the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) area. Therefore, the prohibition to fish for picked dogfish should be limited to that area, while maintaining the current exemption for avoidance programmes.

(4)

At its Annual Meeting in 2016, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission adopted some catch limits for yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares). As those catch limits have a direct effect on the Union purse seine fleet, those measures should be implemented in the law of the Union.

(5)

ICES has revised its advice for the stock of haddock in ICES area VIIa for 2017. That stock is subject to the landing obligation, and, in accordance with Article 16 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2), top-up for former discards is included in the fishing opportunities. It is therefore appropriate to revise the TAC for haddock in the Irish Sea to take account of the most recent scientific advice.

(6)

In Regulation (EU) 2017/127, the TAC for sandeel was set at zero. Sandeel are short lived species. The scientific advice for sandeel becomes available in the second half of February but the fishery starts already in April. The catch limits for those species should now be amended in line with the latest scientific advice from ICES issued on 23 February 2017.

(7)

Scientific advice by the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) supports providing for a small additional commercial quota in order to encourage the participation of fishing vessels in a scientific programme on cod in ICES division VIIa. That scientific programme could be carried out under specific conditions, provided that there is a common agreement among Member States having quota for cod in that area. That additional quota should be granted only for the duration of the scientific programme and would be without prejudice to the relative stability fixed for that stock.

(8)

ICES confirmed that the TAC for dab and flounder in Union waters of ICES subarea IV and division IIa had not had a conservation effect on those stocks. The fixed TAC has not been fully used and other measures might have a greater impact on the biological status of the stock. Therefore, it is appropriate to remove the TAC for dab and flounder in Union waters of ICES subarea IV and division IIa and manage those stocks by using other conservation measures.

(9)

In accordance with the procedure provided for in the agreement and protocol on fisheries relations with Greenland (3), the Joint Committee has set the level of fishing opportunities for capelin in Greenland waters for 2017. It is therefore necessary to include those fishing opportunities in this Regulation.

(10)

At its fifth Annual Meeting on 18-22 January 2017, the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO) set a TAC for jack mackerel. That measure should be implemented in the law of the Union.

(11)

Certain reporting codes should be modified in order to allow for accurate reporting of catches and certain references should be corrected.

(12)

The catch limits provided for in Regulation (EU) 2017/127 apply from 1 January 2017. The provisions of this Regulation concerning catch limits should therefore also apply from that date. Such retroactive application is without prejudice to the principles of legal certainty and protection of legitimate expectations as the fishing opportunities concerned have not yet been exhausted.

(13)

Regulation (EU) 2017/127 should therefore be amended accordingly,

(1)

in Article 12(1), point (v) is replaced by the following:

(2)

the following Article is inserted:

(3)

in Article 27, the following paragraph is inserted:

(4)

in Article 41(1), point (p) is replaced by the following:

(5)

annexes IA, IB, ID, IE, IJ and IID are amended in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation.

(1)

Pursuant to Article 50(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, the United Kingdom's application to register the name ‘West Wales Coracle Caught Sewin’ was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (2).

(2)

As no statement of opposition under Article 51 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 has been received by the Commission, the name ‘West Wales Coracle Caught Sewin’ should therefore be entered in the register,

(1)

Pursuant to the first subparagraph of Article 53(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, the Commission has examined Spain's application for the approval of amendments to the specification for the protected designation of origin ‘Estepa’, registered under Commission Regulation (EU) No 900/2010 (2).

(2)

Since the amendments in question are not minor within the meaning of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, the Commission published the amendment application in the Official Journal of the European Union (3) as required by Article 50(2)(a) of that Regulation.

(3)

As no statement of opposition under Article 51 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 has been received by the Commission, the amendments to the specification should be approved,

(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,

(1)

The subject-matter of the proposed citizens' initiative entitled ‘EU Citizenship for Europeans: United in Diversity in Spite of jus soli and jus sanguinis’ refers to the following ‘The nature and purpose of Citizenship of the Union, particularly in relation to nationality. Withdrawal of Member State from the Union and its effects. Citizens' Rights guaranteed by EU Law’.

(2)

Citizenship of the Union shall be additional to and not replace national citizenship. Holding the nationality of a Member State is a prerequisite for being a citizen of the Union. Citizenship of the Union of a person is therefore conditional on the membership of the Union of at least one of the states of which that person is a national.

(3)

This link between nationality of a Member State of the Union and the citizenship of the Union is established in the Treaties. There is no legal basis in the Treaties which would empower the EU institutions to adopt a legal act of the Union for the purpose of implementing the Treaties aiming at granting citizenship of the Union to persons who do not hold the nationality of a Member State of the Union.

(4)

Nevertheless, a legal act of the Union for the purpose of implementing the Treaties can be adopted in the field of rights of third-country nationals residing legally in a Member State, including the conditions governing freedom of movement and of residence in other Member States of the EU. Such a legal act may therefore confer certain similar rights to those linked to citizenship of the Union on citizens of a state that has withdrawn from the Union pursuant to Article 50 TEU.

(5)

The Treaty on European Union (TEU) reinforces citizenship of the Union and enhances further the democratic functioning of the Union by providing, inter alia, that every citizen is to have the right to participate in the democratic life of the Union by way of a European citizens' initiative.

(6)

To this end, the procedures and conditions required for the citizens' initiative should be clear, simple, user-friendly and proportionate to the nature of the citizens' initiative so as to encourage participation by citizens and to make the Union more accessible.

(7)

For those reasons, it is appropriate to consider that the proposed citizens' initiative, inasmuch as it aims at a proposal for a legal act of the Union for the purpose of implementing the Treaties in the field of rights of third-country nationals residing legally in a Member State, including the conditions governing freedom of movement and of residence in other Member States of the EU and in particular conferring certain similar rights to those linked to citizenship of the Union on citizens of a state that has withdrawn from the Union pursuant to Article 50 TEU, does not fall manifestly outside the framework of the Commission's powers to submit a proposal for a legal act of the Union for the purpose of implementing the Treaties in accordance with Article 4(2)(b) of the Regulation.

(8)

The proposed citizens' initiative entitled ‘EU Citizenship for Europeans: United in Diversity in Spite of jus soli and jus sanguinis’ should therefore be registered. Statements of support should be collected for this proposed citizens' initiative, inasmuch as it aims at a proposal for a legal act of the Union for the purpose of implementing the Treaties in the field of rights of third-country nationals residing legally in a Member State, including the conditions governing freedom of movement and of residence in other Member States of the EU and in particular conferring certain similar rights to those linked to citizenship of the Union on citizens of a state that has withdrawn from the Union pursuant to Article 50 TEU.