Following the publication of an open call for tender, the EFCA has awarded the contract for chartering an offshore EU fisheries patrol vessel to a consortium led by Sentinel Marine Ltd for the vessel Lundy Sentinel, a British flagged Multi-Role Field Support Emergency Response and Rescue Vessel (ERRV) built in 2015.
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The General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) has recently issued a recommendation regarding a multiannual management plan for turbot in the Black Sea (GFCM/41/2017/4).
In order to ensure compliance with the recommendation, a new pilot project has been launched to prepare the establishment of a voluntary observation and inspection programme before the end of 2019. The project will promote compliance and level playing field, in particular with regard to total allowed catches (TAC) and quotas regime, technical measures, closure periods, fishing effort limits and market related measures.
Together, we the Heads of EU agencies and Joint undertakings commit to zero tolerance towards sexual harassment and we cannot and will not accept harassment of any form in our agencies. We take it upon ourselves to communicate to our staff that harassment in the workplace is never acceptable. We have committed ourselves in accordance with existing laws and particularly the staff regulation, to promote diversity at work and provide our staff with a trusted place in which to work.
Equality is one of the fundamental values on which the European Union is built. Gender-based violence, including sexual harassment, is one of the most extreme manifestations of inequality and discrimination.
Sexual violence and harassment contradict the principle of gender equality and equal treatment. They constitute gender-based discrimination in employment. Cases of sexual harassment and bullying, while significantly underreported, are a matter of health, safety and well-being in the workplace and need to be responded to effectively and in accordance with existing laws.
Heads of EU agencies/Joint Undertakings:
Philippe Mengal Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU)
Tiit Jürimäe Clean Sky Joint Undertaking (CLEANSKY)
Martin Ekvad Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO)
Bert De Colvenaer ECSEL JU
Pascal Legai EU Satellite Centre (SATCEN)
Christa Sedlatschek European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA)
Krum Garkov European Agency for the operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice (eu-LISA)
Jose Carreira European Asylum Support Office (EASO)
Patrick Ky European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)
Adam Farkas European Banking Authority (EBA)
Fabrice Leggeri European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex)
Andrea Ammon European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)
Joachim James Calleja European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop)
Hans Bruyninckx European Environment Agency (EEA)
Pascal Savouret European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA)
Bernhard Url European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)
Juan Menéndez-Valdés European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound)
Carlo des Dorides European GNSS Agency (GSA)
Virginija Langbakk European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE)
Martin Kern European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT)
Fausto Parente European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA)
Markku Mylly European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA)
Guido Rasi European Medicines Agency (EMA)
Alexis Goosdeel European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA)
Verena Ross European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA)
Cesare Onestini European Training Foundation (ETF)
Rob Wainwright European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol)
Detlef Schröder European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL)
Udo Helmbrecht European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA)
Josef Doppelbauer European Union Agency for Railways (ERA)
Antonio Campinos European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO)
Nick Panagiotopoulos European Union's Judicial Cooperation Unit (Eurojust)
Bart Biebuyck Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH)
Michael O'Flaherty Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA)
Johannes Schwemmer Fusion for Energy (F4E)
Pierre Meulien Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI)
Laszlo Igneczi Office of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC Office)
Florian Guillermet SESAR Joint Undertaking
Carlo Borghini Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking (S2R)
Elke König Single Resolution Board (SRB)
Máire Killoran Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union (Cdt)
The European Union has established decentralised agencies to carry out specific legal, operational, technical or scientific tasks within the EU. These agencies are autonomous EU bodies and add value by helping to implement policies, enhance dialogue and share information and expertise on a range of topics. EU agencies also provide practical support to Member States and the EU institutions. More information about the EU agencies’ network can be found at https://euagencies.eu
During its meeting of 14 March 2018, the EFCA Administrative Board adopted the annual report reflecting all the activities undertaken by the EFCA during 2017, an outstanding year for EFCA due to increased resources and growing tasks.
EFCA achieved important results in promoting cooperation amongst Member States, assisting the European Commission and contributing to a strengthened European Union system of monitoring, control and surveillance, with a view to guaranteeing a level playing field and a culture of compliance in the most cost-efficient way.
The Agency continued its assistance and collaboration with the Member States through the implementation of data collection programmes to evaluate the catch composition, the improvement of the risk analysis, the assessment of compliance and the dialogue with stakeholders in order to develop processes for the monitoring of the landing obligation.
The coordination of the on-going Joint Deployment Plans (JDP) and other operational plans in support of the Member States, including the international dimension, reached close to 20,074 inspections, which identified 889 apparent infringements.
The training programmes for trainers and Union inspectors in support of the Member States, with an emphasis on the continued evolution of the e-learning platform and the update of the Core Curriculum included 29 training sessions with 875 officials trained.
In line with the commitments taken in the Ministerial Declaration MedFish4Ever, the EFCA implemented the Pilot Project of the GFCM Recommendation for conservation of fishing resources in the Strait of Sicily in cooperation with the Commission, the Member States and Third Countries. The good results of this project led to the adoption of an international inspection scheme by the GFCM applying to the Strait of Sicily.
EFCA`s involvement in the European Coast Guard Function reached a cruise speed. This undertaking dramatically boosted the longstanding cooperation between the three agencies, which have signed a Tripartite Working Arrangement in March 2017, in accordance with the new legal framework. EFCA, together with the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX) and the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), each within its mandate, shall support the competent national authorities by providing information, equipment and training, as well as by coordinating multipurpose operations.
The Agency contributed in the international dimension of the Common Fisheries Policy to the European Commission project “PESCAO” (Improved Regional Fisheries Governance in Western Africa), aiming at enhancing regional cooperation in the fight against Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing in that area.
Throughout the year, EFCA assisted the European Commission in the framework of Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPA), in its relations with the Regional Fisheries Management Organsitations and in the implementation of the EU regulation for combatting IUU fishing.
“These achievements illustrate the positive results that the coordination of the joint control activities of the Member States and the support granted to the European Commission by the EFCA can provide thanks to the efforts and commitments of its staff’ stated EFCA’s Executive Director Pascal Savouret.
The European Fisheries Control Agency will be present at the European Commission Stand of the Seafood Exposition on 24-26 April with new publications, presentations and a video. You can find more information of the stand on https://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/seafood-expo-global-2018_en. We are looking forward to meeting you there and give you an insight of the work EFCA is carrying out today!
The Annual European Coast Guard Event is taking place in La Toja (Spain) on 11-12 April 2018. National authorities performing coast guard functions and other EU and international partners will be able to provide consultation and feedback on the Agencies’ cross-sectoral, cross-border cooperation activities. The event shall facilitate the identification of possible future cooperation activities relevant to the stakeholder communities of the three Agencies: the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, the European Fisheries Control Agency and the European Maritime Safety Agency.
More specifically the event shall facilitate:
- raising awareness of the tasks, functions and operational activities of each Agency to the stakeholder communities of the other Agencies;
- reporting of ongoing and completed joint activities of the Agencies in support of the national authorities performing coast guard functions;
- obtaining stakeholders feedback on the joint activities of the Agencies in support of the European Coast Guard initiative (reality check);
- identification of future joint activities of the Agencies in support and assistance to national authorities carrying out coast guard functions as a solid input for the development of the Annual Strategic Plan to be approved by the next Tripartite Working Arrangement Steering Committee and included in the Agencies’ Programming Document.
On 11-12 April 2018, the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) hosted the first European Annual Coast Guard event which took place in La Toja, Spain. It was co-organised by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), the European Fisheries Control Agency and the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and brought together more than 120 participants from Member States’ national authorities responsible for the various coast guard functions, the three relevant EU Agencies as well as the European Commission.
The event provided participants with the opportunity to give an insight into the activities relevant for the five areas of interagency cooperation: information sharing to improve maritime situational awareness to facilitate operations at sea; maritime surveillance and communication services; capacity building such as training and risk assessment strategies, and sharing of capacity in the form of multipurpose operations. The discussions provided the three agencies with valuable feedback on the current cooperation activities and input for the planning of possible joint actions to be incorporated in the Annual Strategic Plan for 2019.
“The EU Coast Guard cooperation shows the added value of working together and focusing on the commonalities, rather than in the individualities. This event permitted to better identify the expectations of the Member States authorities delivering tasks falling under the European Union Coast Guard functions to work closer together in future activities.
This cooperation between the European Agencies and the National Authorities responsible for the Coast Guard function is instrumental for the European Union as a whole and specifically for the implementation of the control regime of the Common Fisheries Policy. In particular, maritime surveillance and the use of cross cutting technologies as RPAs may turn the tide of uncompliant discarding behaviour," said Pascal Savouret, Executive Director.
The five-year EU funded PESCAO project, which includes a component aiming to improve the fight against Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing activities in Western Africa, has kicked off today. The European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) in cooperation with the Delegations of the European Union in the region, the European Commission (DG MARE and DG DEVCO) and in partnership with the two sub-regional organisations, the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC) and the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC), formally launched the PESCAO project activities in Dakar, Senegal.
The PESCAO project, funded under the European Development Fund (EDF), aims over the coming five years to improve regional fisheries governance in Western Africa. This will include developing a regional fishing policy, putting in place regional coordination against IUU fishing and improving fish stock management at regional level. The EUR 15 million project is one of the many significant commitments to ocean conservation made by the European Union at the 2017 Our Ocean Conference hosted by the EU in Malta.
“The European Fisheries Control Agency is eager to extend its existing cooperation with fisheries control authorities in the European Union Waters to its two African partners in this project. The Agency considers the PESCAO project of cooperation as a game changer aiming at improving sustainability of fisheries resources through improved monitoring, control and surveillance at national and regional levels,” said Pascal Savouret, Executive Director.
This year, marking the first decade of EFCA in Vigo, the Agency was the sponsor of several workshops for children in the local summer festival Vigo SeaFest.
The aim was to contribute to raising awareness on sustainability among the future generations, so that they get to know the marine ecosystems and the need to protect our natural resources from a very early age.
The EFCA stands in solidarity with all those who are suffering from the deadly forest fires that happened today in Greece.
Our sincere condolences go to the families and friends of the victims of this tragedy and to the Greek people.
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Letter by President Juncker to Prime Minister Tsipras
Statement by Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides