The Permanent Representatives Committee - Coreper - approved on 20 February 2015 the final compromise text on the implementation of the landing obligation for fisheries or "omnibus regulation".
The Council and the European Parliament reached on 29 January 2015 a provisional political agreement on the "omnibus regulation" at a second informal trilogue meeting on the issue.
Once the final text will be available, the regulation will be on the agenda of the European Parliament and of the Council for its final adoption.
A central objective of the reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the progressive elimination of discards in all EU fisheries through the introduction of an obligation to land all catches. The "omnibus" regulation contains a package of amendments to existing control and technical measures regulations to implement the landing obligation agreed under the reformed CFP.
The Council and the European Parliament agreed on a number of points aimed at simplifying the provisions and reducing administrative burden for fishermen and control administrations. In addition:
- An annual report on the implementation of the landing obligation will be prepared by the Commission on the basis of available information transmitted by the member states, Advisory Councils and other relevant sources
- The principle that the development of parallel markets for undersized fish should be prevented is confirmed
- A pragmatic solution for the storage of fish on board of fishing vessels was agreed.