(1)

Council Regulation (EU) No 1256/2011 of 30 November 2011 fixing for 2012 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Baltic Sea and amending Regulation (EU) No 1124/2010 (2), lays down quotas for 2012.

(2)

According to the information received by the Commission, catches of the stock referred to in the Annex to this Regulation by vessels flying the flag of or registered in the Member State referred to therein have exhausted the quota allocated for 2012.

(3)

It is therefore necessary to prohibit fishing activities for that stock,

(1)

The active substance potassium hydrogen carbonate was included in Annex I to Council Directive 91/414/EEC (2) by Commission Directive 2008/127/EC (3) in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 24b of Commission Regulation (EC) No 2229/2004 of 3 December 2004 laying down further detailed rules for the implementation of the fourth stage of the programme of work referred to in Article 8(2) of Council Directive 91/414/EEC (4). Since the replacement of Directive 91/414/EEC by Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009, this substance is deemed to have been approved under that Regulation and is listed in Part A of the Annex to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 540/2011 of 25 May 2011 implementing Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the list of approved active substances (5).

(2)

In accordance with Article 25a of Regulation (EC) No 2229/2004, the European Food Safety Authority, hereinafter ‘the Authority’, presented to the Commission its view on the draft review report for potassium hydrogen carbonate (6) on 16 December 2011. The draft review report and the view of the Authority were reviewed by the Member States and the Commission within the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health and finalised on 13 July 2012 in the format of the Commission review report for potassium hydrogen carbonate.

(3)

The Authority communicated its view on potassium hydrogen carbonate to the notifier, and the Commission invited it to submit comments on the review report.

(4)

It is confirmed that the active substance potassium hydrogen carbonate is to be deemed to have been approved under Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009.

(5)

In accordance with Article 13(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 in conjunction with Article 6 thereof and in the light of current scientific and technical knowledge, it is necessary to amend the conditions of approval of potassium hydrogen carbonate. Taking into account the fact that the use of potassium hydrogen carbonate as insecticide was assessed by Belgium and has not shown additional risks, it is appropriate to allow this use in addition to the use as fungicide.

(6)

The Annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 540/2011 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(7)

A reasonable period of time should be allowed before the application of this Regulation in order to allow Member States, the notifier and holders of authorisations for plant protection products containing potassium hydrogen carbonate to meet the requirements resulting from amendment to the conditions of the approval.

(8)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,

(1)

Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1670/2006 lays down that the quantities of cereals eligible for the refund are to be the quantities placed under control and distilled, weighted by a coefficient to be fixed annually for each Member State concerned. The coefficient is to express the average ratio between the total quantities exported and the total quantities marketed of the spirit drink concerned, on the basis of the trend noted in those quantities during the number of years corresponding to the average ageing period of the spirit drink in question.

(2)

According to the information provided by Ireland in respect of the period 1 January to 31 December 2011, the average ageing period for Irish whiskey in 2011 was five years.

(3)

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 899/2011 of 7 September 2011 fixing the coefficients applicable to cereals exported in the form of Irish whiskey for the period 2011/12 (3) has exhausted its effects, as it concerns the coefficients applicable for the year 2011/2012. The coefficients for the period 1 October 2012 to 30 September 2013 should therefore be fixed accordingly.

(4)

Article 10 of Protocol 3 to the Agreement on the European Economic Area excludes the grant of refunds in respect of exports to Liechtenstein, Iceland and Norway. Moreover, the Union has concluded agreements abolishing export refunds with certain third countries. Under the terms of Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1670/2006, this should be taken into account in calculating the coefficients for 2012/2013,

(1)

In accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 of 20 December 2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries Policy (2), the common fisheries policy must provide for coherent measures concerning the conservation, management and exploitation of living aquatic resources, including specific measures to reduce the impact of fishing activities on marine ecosystems and non-target species.

(2)

Article 45(1) of Regulation (EC) No 850/98 provides that, where the conservation of stocks of marine organisms calls for immediate action, the Commission may, in addition to or by way of derogation from that Regulation, adopt any measures necessary.

(3)

Advice received in June 2011 from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (hereinafter ‘ICES’) shows that discarding rates in the Celtic Sea, particularly of juvenile haddock and whiting, are high and increasing. Discarding fish before they have reproduced reduces the potential yield for future years and thus threatens the sustainability of the stocks.

(4)

Both the fleets targeting Norway lobster and the fleets using bottom trawls and seines to target mixed finfish have high levels of haddock and whiting discards due to the poor selectivity of the gears used. ICES also states that the cod stock is highly dependent on recruitment of fish, and that technical measures should be encouraged to reduce discards. With recent high recruitment in both haddock and whiting stocks in the Celtic Sea, discarding is expected to get worse this year. Consequently, ICES advises that technical measures should be introduced urgently to increase selectivity and reduce discards of haddock, whiting and cod.

(5)

It is therefore necessary to introduce the use of square-meshed panels to improve the size selectivity of the gears used and protect the juvenile fish entering the stock, whilst maintaining as much of the catches of target species as possible. Square-meshed panels have been shown to reduce fishing mortality significantly by allowing fish to escape and are an effective measure that can be introduced immediately.

(6)

In October 2011 the North Western Waters Regional Advisory Council (NWWRAC) issued advice that the current technical measures in the Celtic Sea should be improved to reduce discards, especially of haddock and whiting, by requiring the use of an appropriately positioned square-meshed panel of a specified size depending on the gear type and engine power of the vessel.

(7)

Therefore, the conservation of haddock and whiting stocks in the Celtic Sea require immediate action.

(8)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Fisheries and Aquaculture,

(1)

Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 lays down, pursuant to the outcome of the Uruguay Round multilateral trade negotiations, the criteria whereby the Commission fixes the standard values for imports from third countries, in respect of the products and periods stipulated in Annex XVI, Part A thereto.

(2)

The standard import value is calculated each working day, in accordance with Article 136(1) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011, taking into account variable daily data. Therefore this Regulation should enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union,

(1)

The representative prices and additional duties applicable to imports of white sugar, raw sugar and certain syrups for the 2011/12 marketing year are fixed by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 971/2011 (3). Those prices and duties were last amended by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 732/2012 (4).

(2)

The data currently available to the Commission indicate that those amounts should be amended in accordance with Article 36 of Regulation (EC) No 951/2006.

(3)

Given the need to ensure that this measure applies as soon as possible after the updated data have been made available, this Regulation should enter into force on the day of its publication,

(1)

Article 136(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 states that the import duty on products covered by CN codes 1001 19 00, 1001 11 00, ex 1001 91 20 (common wheat seed), ex 1001 99 00 (high quality common wheat other than for sowing), 1002 10 00, 1002 90 00, 1005 10 90, 1005 90 00, 1007 10 90 and 1007 90 00 is to be equal to the intervention price valid for such products on importation and increased by 55 %, minus the cif import price applicable to the consignment in question. However, that duty may not exceed the rate of duty in the Common Customs Tariff.

(2)

Article 136(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 lays down that, in order to calculate the import duty referred to in paragraph 1 of that Article, representative cif import prices are to be established on a regular basis for the products in question.

(3)

Under Article 2(2) of Regulation (EU) No 642/2010, the price to be used for the calculation of the import duty on products covered by CN codes 1001 19 00, 1001 11 00, ex 1001 91 20 (common wheat seed), ex 1001 99 00 (high quality common wheat other than for sowing), 1002 10 00, 1002 90 00, 1005 10 90, 1005 90 00, 1007 10 90 and 1007 90 00 is the daily cif representative import price determined as specified in Article 5 of that Regulation.

(4)

Import duties should be fixed for the period from 16 August 2012 and should apply until new import duties are fixed and enter into force.

(5)

Given the need to ensure that this measure applies as soon as possible after the updated data have been made available, this Regulation should enter into force on the day of its publication,

(1)

Pursuant to Article 60(1) and (2) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 a Member State should ensure that all fisheries products are weighed on landing prior to the fisheries products being held in storage, transported or sold, on systems approved by the control authorities unless it has adopted a sampling plan approved by the Commission and based on the risk-based methodology established in Article 76(1) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011 of 8 April 2011 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy (2) in conjunction with Annex XIX to the same Regulation.

(2)

Pursuant to Article 60(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 Member States may permit fisheries products to be weighed on board the fishing vessel, by way of derogation from the general weighing obligation established in Article 60(1), and provided the Member State has adopted a sampling plan as referred to in Article 60(1), approved by the Commission and based on the risk-based methodology established in Article 76(2) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011 in conjunction with Annex XX to the same Regulation.

(3)

Pursuant to Article 61(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 Member States may permit fisheries products to be weighed after transport from the place of landing provided that they are transported to a destination on the territory of the Member State concerned and that this Member State has adopted a control plan approved by the Commission and based on the risk-based methodology established in Article 77(1) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011 in conjunction with Annex XXI to the same Regulation.

(4)

Sampling plans of Germany (14.11.2011), Ireland (7.11.2011), Lithuania (11.1.2012), the Netherlands (18.1.2012), Poland (5.3.2012), Finland (7.11.2011) and the United Kingdom (15.12.2011) and control plans of Germany (14.11.2011), Estonia (15.12.2011), Ireland (7.11.2011), Poland (5.3.2012), Finland (7.11.2011) and the United Kingdom (15.12.2011) have been submitted to the Commission for approval. They are in line with the relevant risk-based methodologies. They should therefore be approved.

(5)

This Decision constitutes the approval decision within the meaning of Article 60(1) and (3) and Article 61(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.

(6)

The Commission needs to monitor the application of the sampling plans and control plans both with respect to their effective operation as well as to their regular review by the Member State concerned. For that reason Member States should report to the Commission on the application of these plans,

(1)

Decision ECB/2011/25 of 14 December 2011 on additional temporary measures relating to Eurosystem refinancing operations and eligibility of collateral (1) should be replaced by Guideline ECB/2012/18 of 2 August 2012 on additional temporary measures relating to Eurosystem refinancing operations and eligibility of collateral and amending Guideline ECB/2007/9 (2) to allow the national central banks to implement the additional enhanced credit support measures in the contractual and regulatory framework applicable to their counterparties.

(2)

Decision ECB/2011/25 should be repealed,

(1)

Pursuant to Article 18.1 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the national central banks of Member States whose currency is the euro (hereinafter the ‘NCBs’) may conduct credit operations with credit institutions and other market participants, with lending being based on adequate collateral. The general conditions under which the ECB and the NCBs stand ready to enter into credit operations, including the criteria determining the eligibility of collateral for the purposes of Eurosystem credit operations, are laid down in Annex I to Guideline ECB/2011/14 of 20 September 2011 on monetary policy instruments and procedures of the Eurosystem (1).

(2)

On 8 December 2011 and 20 June 2012 the Governing Council decided on additional enhanced credit support measures to support bank lending and liquidity in the euro area money market, including measures set out in Decision ECB/2011/25 of 14 December 2011 on additional temporary measures relating to Eurosystem refinancing operations and eligibility of collateral (2). In addition, references to the reserve ratio in Guideline ECB/2007/9 of 1 August 2007 on monetary, financial institutions and markets statistics (3) need to be aligned with the amendments to Regulation (EC) No 1745/2003 of the European Central Bank of 12 September 2003 on the application of minimum reserves (ECB/2003/9) (4) introduced by Regulation (EU) No 1358/2011 (5).

(3)

NCBs should not be obliged to accept as collateral in Eurosystem credit operations eligible bank bonds guaranteed by a Member State under a European Union/International Monetary Fund programme or by a Member State whose credit assessment does not meet the Eurosystem benchmark for establishing its minimum requirement for high credit standards, as set out in Decision ECB/2011/25.

(4)

Decision ECB/2011/25 reviewed the exception from the close links prohibition set out in Section 6.2.3.2 of Annex I to Guideline ECB/2011/14 with respect to government-guaranteed bank bonds own used as collateral by counterparties.

(5)

Counterparties participating in Eurosystem credit operations should be allowed to increase the levels of own use of government-guaranteed bank bonds that they had on 3 July 2012 subject to the ex ante approval of the Governing Council in exceptional circumstances. The requests submitted to the Governing Council for the ex ante approval need to be accompanied by a funding plan.

(6)

Decision ECB/2011/25 needs to be replaced by this Guideline, which should be implemented by the NCBs in their contractual or regulatory arrangements.

(7)

The additional measures set out in this Guideline should apply temporarily, until the Governing Council considers that they are no longer necessary, to ensure an appropriate monetary policy transmission mechanism,