Council Regulation 1224/2009, known as the Control Regulation, establishes a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy and establishing a level playing-field across the EU on fisheries control.
In 2018, the Commission published a proposal to amend the Control Regulation. The negotiations on the revised EU Control Regulation are currently ongoing at the Council Working Party. The Portuguese Presidency has indicated its intention to bring a general approach on the proposal to the Council of Fisheries Ministers in May.
The proposal has also been discussed by the European Parliament and last month, the Parliament adopted its negotiating position on the proposal. When both the Council and the Parliament have formally adopted their positions, trilateral negotiations will commence involving the EU Council, the European Parliament and the Commission.
My Department has been engaged fully in the negotiation process and continues to be actively involved in the ongoing discussions with the Presidency, other Member States and the Commission on the proposal. As set out in the Programme for Government, one of Ireland's priorities for the negotiations is to retain the derogation for fisheries products to be weighed after transport under certain conditions. My Department has made this clear throughout the negotiation process. My Department has consulted with stakeholders during this process and will continue to keep them apprised of developments.
Under the Sea Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006, operational issues concerning sea-fisheries control are, as a matter of law, exclusively for the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) and the Naval Service. The issue of the Fisheries Control Plan, the discontinuance of the Control Plan submitted by the SFPA in 2012 and the new arrangements arising from this Commission Decision, as well as the oversight of weighing systems, are operational matters for the SFPA and I am precluded from getting involved in these matters.
