The EFCA has adopted its annual report for 2013 at the meeting of the Administrative Board held on 13 of March. The annual report comprised all the activities undertaken by the EFCA during last year. 2013 has been a year of preparation in readiness for the application of the new Common Fisheries Policy features.
The European Fisheries Control Agency organised a seminar which was hosted by Croatia in Dubrovnik on January 15th and 16th 2014. The seminar adressed control aspects of the implementation of the discard ban introduced as part of the reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) package. Representatives from Member States and the European Commission as well as a wide and balanced range of representation of stakeholders from the Advisory Councils and scientific organisations attended this forum.
The new features of the Common Fisheries Policy basic regulation require to adapt the inspection and control regime accordingly. Consequently, the European Fisheries Control Agency needs to remodel its Joint Deployment Plan concept in close cooperation with the European Commission and the Member States.
In order to adress the control of the discard ban, the European Fisheries Control Agency has taken the initiative of organising a seminar hosted by Croatia IN Dubrovnik on January 15th and 16th 2014.
The EFCA has adopted its Multiannual Work Programme for 2014-2018 and the Annual Work Programme at the meeting of the Administrative Board held on 15 of October 2013. Moreover, the budget adopted in the meeting for 2014 is of €9,217,150, almost the same figure as the final budget of 2013, and subject to the definitive adoption of the EU Budget for 2014 by the Budgetary Authority in the coming weeks.
Following the five year external evaluation of the European Fisheries Control Agency activities, the EFCA Administrative Board asked to develop a method for assessing the cost-effectiveness of control operations for Member States. Subsequently, the creation of two Focus Groups to evaluate general trends in compliance levels and to assess cost effectiveness of control operations was included in the Multiannual Work Programme for 2013-2017 and the work programme for 2013.
For the sixth year, the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) coordinates the Joint Deployment Plan (JDP) for the Blue Fin Tuna fishery in the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Atlantic waters for 2013. Under this JDP, Member States pool their control and inspection means, both material and human, in order to carry out jointly control, inspection and surveillance of fishery activities both at sea and ashore. All these activities are coordinated by a team of national coordinators and EFCA coordinators based in the premises of the EFCA.
The European Fisheries Control Agency has presented the new tools to develop a culture of compliance in a reformed Common Fisheries Policy at the European Parliament. Indeed, in the context of the new policy being designed, the EFCA, within its mandate, is ready to contribute to the success of the new CFP and the key features of regionalisation and discard ban and develop the necessary tools.
The EFCA has adopted its annual report for 2012 at the meeting of the Administrative Board held on 5 of March. The annual report comprised all the activities undertaken by the EFCA during that year and marks a consolidation and strengthening of the core activities on which the success of the Agency has been constructed to date.
On the 23 October a meeting was held between the European Fisheries Control Agency and the Croatian Authorities in Split (Croatia) in order to establish a roadmap on their future cooperation in Fisheries control in view to the Croatian accession to the European Union in the next month of July 2013. Croatia will be the 28th Member State to be part of the European and Fisheries has a great socioeconomic importance for the country.
The European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) has included Baltic salmon stocks into the current joint deployment plan (JDP) in the Baltic Sea in line with the amendment of the European Commission specific control and inspection programme for the cod stocks in the Baltic Sea.