(1)

Council Regulation (EU) 2020/123 (1) fixes for 2020 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)

In Regulation (EU) 2020/123, the total allowable catch (TAC) for anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) in International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) subareas 9 and 10 and in Union waters of Fishery Committee for the Eastern Central Atlantic (CECAF) division 34.1.1 was set at zero. In Council Regulation (EU) 2020/900 (2), which amends the Regulation (EU) 2020/123, a provisional TAC was established to allow fishing activity to continue. Anchovy is a shortlived species and the latest scientific advice was issued by ICES on 18 June 2020. The catch limits for anchovy in ICES subareas 9 and 10 and in Union waters of CECAF division 34.1.1 should be amended in line with that scientific advice and set at 15 699 tonnes.

(3)

In the Agreed Record of fisheries consultations between the Faroe Islands and the European Union for 2020 both parties have agreed to grant each other reciprocal access to one another’s waters to fish for blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) in Union and international waters of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8a, 8b, 8d, 8e, 12 and 14 and Faroese waters, within a limit of 37 500 tonnes. A special condition in the TAC table grants the Union access to Faroese waters and limits, in the form of a percentage of the total Union share, the amount of blue whiting that Member States may fish from their own quotas in the Faroese waters. That percentage should represent the proportion of the Union access rights in Faroese waters of 37 500 tonnes compared to the total Union share of 326 484 tonnes of blue whiting. 37 500 tonnes amounts to a percentage of 11,4 % of the total Union share of 326 484 tonnes of blue whiting. Since the percentage of the total Union share of blue whiting that Member States may fish from their own quotas in Faroese waters is currently set at 7 %, that percentage should be amended accordingly.

(4)

In the Agreed Record of fisheries consultations between Norway and the European Union on ad hoc fisheries arrangements on the management of blue whiting and Norwegian spring-spawning (Atlanto-Scandian) herring for 2020, both parties are granted access to fish 190 809 tonnes of blue whiting in each other’s waters. In the TAC table for blue whiting granting Norway’s fishing access in Union waters of 2, 4a, 5, 6 north of 56° 30′ N and 7 west of 12° W, a special condition limits the catch in 4a to no more than 40 000 tonnes (in accordance with the Agreed Record on fisheries consultations between Norway and the European Union for 2020). That catch limit in 4a amounts to 21 % of Norway’s total access quota. That percentage, currently set at 18 %, should be amended accordingly.

(5)

The Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Community on the one hand, and the Government of Denmark and the Home Rule Government of Greenland, on the other hand (3), and the Protocol (4) thereto, provides that the Union is to receive 7,7 % of the TAC for capelin (Mallotus villosus) to be fished in Greenland waters of ICES subareas 5 and 14. In accordance with that Protocol, on 12 June 2020 Greenland offered the Union 13 053 tonnes of capelin to be fished between 20 June 2020 and 15 April 2021. The fishing opportunities table for capelin should therefore be amended accordingly.

(6)

Regulation (EU) 2020/123 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(7)

The catch limits provided for in Regulation (EU) 2020/123 apply from 1 January 2020 for blue whiting in Union waters of 2, 4a, 5, 6 north of 56° 30′ N and 7 west of 12° W, from 20 June 2020 for capelin in Greenland waters of ICES subareas 5 and 14, and from 1 July 2020 for anchovy in ICES subareas 9 and 10 and in Union waters of CECAF division 34.1.1. The provisions introduced by this Regulation concerning catch limits should therefore enter in force as soon as possible and should apply retroactively for blue whiting from 1 January 2020, for capelin from 20 June 2020, and for anchovy from 1 July 2020. Such retroactive application does not affect the principles of legal certainty and protection of legitimate expectations as the fishing opportunities concerned are increased and have not yet been exhausted.

(8)

According to the scientific advice of ICES, catches of Norway pout (Trisopterus esmarkii) in ICES subarea 4 and ICES division 3a in the period from 1 November 2019 to 31 October 2020 should not exceed 167 105 tonnes. From that stock, the Union reserved a share of 92 000 tonnes and set a preliminary Union quota of 65 000 tonnes in Council Regulation (EU) 2019/1838 (5). Following consultations, in December 2019, the Union transferred only 14 500 and 5 000 tonnes from the remaining reserved amount to Norway and the Faroe Islands respectively. As a result, the remaining 7 500 tonnes should be added to the current Union quota.

(9)

The United Kingdom has been consulted in accordance with Article 130(1) of the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community (6),

(1)

Annex IA is amended as follows:

(2)

In Annex IB, the fishing opportunities table for capelin in Greenland waters of 5 and 14 is replaced by the following:

(1)

The Grains Trade Convention, 1995 (‘the Convention’) was concluded by the Union by means of Council Decision 96/88/EC (1) and entered into force on 1 July 1995. The Convention was concluded for a period of three years.

(2)

Pursuant to Article 33 of the Convention, the International Grains Council is able to extend the Convention for successive periods not exceeding two years on each occasion. Since its conclusion, the Convention has regularly been extended for further periods of two years. The Convention was last extended by decision of the International Grains Council on 10 June 2019 (2) and remains in force until 30 June 2021.

(3)

Pursuant to Article 27(2) of the Convention, the Convention is open for accession by the Governments of all States upon such conditions as the International Grains Council considers appropriate.

(4)

On 9 April 2020, the United Kingdom formally applied for accession to the Convention as from 1 January 2021.

(5)

The United Kingdom is a major producer of cereals, in particular barley and wheat. Should approval of the United Kingdom’s application to accede to the Convention and consequently to participate in the International Grains Council be granted, the United Kingdom will be an importing member in accordance with Article 12 of the Convention. As the Union is an exporting member, the accession of the United Kingdom will not impact the number of votes allocated to the Union for voting purposes under Article 12 of the Convention. The accession of the United Kingdom will, however, reduce, as from the financial year 2021/22, the number of votes allocated to the Union under Article 11 of the Convention, which determines the financial contribution of members.

(6)

It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf in the International Grains Council and to approve the accession of the United Kingdom to the Convention provided that the accession does not take effect and the Convention is not provisionally applied in respect of the United Kingdom before the end of the transition period referred to in Article 126 of the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community (3),

(1)

The Convention on Future Multilateral Cooperation in the North-East Atlantic Fisheries (1) (‘the NEAFC Convention’) was approved by Council Decision 81/608/EEC (2) and entered into force on 17 March 1982.

(2)

The NEAFC Convention currently applies to the United Kingdom as a result of the Union being a Contracting Party to that Convention, while Article 20(4) of the NEAFC Convention excludes the accession of Member States to that Convention.

(3)

Pursuant to Article 20(4) of the NEAFC Convention, any State can accede to the NEAFC Convention provided that an application for accession of that State is approved by three-fourths of all Contracting Parties to the Convention within 90 days from the date of notification by the Depositary of the receipt of the application.

(4)

On 8 January 2019, the United Kingdom submitted an application to accede to the NEAFC Convention as a Contracting Party. On the same date, the Depositary notified the Commission thereof.

(5)

On 25 March 2019, the Council adopted Decision (EU) 2019/510 (3). That decision was favourable to the United Kingdom’s accession to the NEAFC Convention and was adopted in order to anticipate the situation where the United Kingdom would leave the Union without a withdrawal agreement. Consequently, Decision (EU) 2019/510 only authorised the Commission to notify the Union’s position in the event that no withdrawal agreement was concluded.

(6)

The application for accession by the United Kingdom was not approved by the required number of the Contracting Parties to the NEAFC Convention as the quorum of three-fourths was not reached.

(7)

Pursuant to Article 129(4) of the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community (4) (‘the Withdrawal Agreement’), during the transition period, the United Kingdom may negotiate, sign and ratify international agreements entered into in its own capacity in the areas of exclusive competence of the Union, provided that those agreements do not enter into force or apply during the transition period, unless so authorised by the Union. Council Decision (EU) 2020/135 (5) sets out the conditions and procedure for granting such authorisations.

(8)

By means of its letter of 3 April 2020, the United Kingdom notified the Commission of its intention to express its consent, in its own capacity, to be bound by the NEAFC Convention during the transition period. On 6 July 2020, the United Kingdom submitted a new application for accession to that Convention, seeking an accession which would take effect during the transition period in a manner consistent with the Withdrawal Agreement.

(9)

Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1305 (6) authorises the United Kingdom to express its consent, in its own capacity, to be bound by the NEAFC Convention as the conditions set out in Article 3(1) of Decision (EU) 2020/135 are fulfilled.

(10)

Pursuant to Articles 56, 63 and 116 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (7) (UNCLOS), the United Kingdom has legitimate fishing interests within the Convention Area provided for in the NEAFC Convention (high seas) as a coastal State, insofar as the waters under the exclusive economic zone of the United Kingdom fall within that Convention Area.

(11)

In order to prevent unsustainable fisheries, it is in the interest of the Union that the United Kingdom cooperate in the management of the stocks of common interest in full compliance with the provisions of UNCLOS and the United Nations Agreement on the implementation of the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the conservation and management of straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks (8) (UNFSA), and of any other international agreement or rule of international law.

(12)

As provided for in Article 63(2) UNCLOS and in Article 8 UNFSA, where the same stock or stocks of associated species occur both within the exclusive economic zone and in an area beyond and adjacent to that zone, the coastal State and the States fishing for such stocks in the adjacent area are to cooperate with a view to agreeing upon the measures necessary for the conservation of those stocks in the adjacent area. Such cooperation can be established in the framework of regional fisheries management organisations. The accession of the United Kingdom to the NEAFC Convention will allow the United Kingdom to cooperate on the necessary fishery management measures, with a view to ensuring that fishing activities are carried out in a way that results in the sustainable exploitation of the stock or stocks concerned.

(13)

Accession before the expiry of the transition period would enable the United Kingdom to give full effect to the obligations resulting from UNCLOS with regard to conservation and management measures taking effect as from the moment the transition period ends and Union law ceases to apply to it. It is therefore in the interest of the Union to approve the application for accession to the NEAFC Convention submitted by the United Kingdom by the expiry of the notification period referred to in Article 20(4) of the NEAFC Convention.

(14)

In the interests of clarity and legal certainty, Decision (EU) 2019/510 should be repealed,