Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/288 of 17 December 2014 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund with regard to the period of time and the dates for the inadmissibility of applications
Data as of 2026-07-04 · Compiled from an official source version. Later amendments or repeals may not be reflected; the official text prevails. · Read the official text ↗
Subject matter and scope
This Regulation applies to applications for support from the EMFF and identifies the period during which such applications submitted by operators who have carried out actions referred to in Article 10(1)(a) and (b) of Regulation (EU) No 508/2014, or in Article 10(3) of that Regulation, shall be inadmissible (‘the inadmissibility period’).
Definitions
For the purposes of this Regulation: 1. ‘infringement points’ means points assigned to the operator for a fishing vessel in the context of the point system for serious infringements set out in Article 92 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009. 2. ‘operator’ means an operator as defined in Article 4(30) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 who submits an application for EMFF support.
Inadmissibility of applications by operators who have committed serious infringements under Article 42(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 ( 6 ) or Article 90(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009
1. Where a competent authority has determined that an operator has committed a serious infringement under Article 42(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 or Article 90(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, applications for EMFF support by that operator shall be inadmissible for a period of 12 months. 2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, where a Member State pursuant to Article 42(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 assigns infringement points for serious infringements listed in points 1, 2, and 5 of Annex XXX to Regulation (EU) No 404/2011, the following rules shall apply: (a) if the infringement points accumulated by an operator in respect of a fishing vessel remain below 9, applications for EMFF support by that operator shall be admissible; (b) if the number of infringement points accumulated by an operator in respect of a fishing vessel is 9 points, the inadmissibility period shall be 12 months; (c) each infringement point assigned in addition to the points accumulated by an operator in respect of a fishing vessel in point (b) shall result in an additional period of inadmissibility of 1 month. 3. The starting date of the inadmissibility period shall be the date of the first official decision by a competent authority determining that a serious infringement within the meaning of Article 42(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 or Article 90(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 was committed. For the purposes of calculating the inadmissibility period, only serious infringements committed as from 1 January 2013 and for which a decision within the meaning of the above subparagraph was taken as from that date shall be taken into account. 4. However, for the specific purposes of paragraph 2, the starting date of the inadmissibility period shall be the date of the first official decision by a competent authority assigning infringement points to an operator pursuant to Article 126(4) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011 and resulting in that operator being assigned a total of 9 or more infringement points in respect of a fishing vessel. For the purposes of calculating the inadmissibility period, only points for infringements committed as from 1 January 2013 and assigned by an official decision taken as from that date shall be taken into account.
Inadmissibility of applications by operators included in the Union IUU vessel list or whose vessel is flagged to a non-cooperating third county
1. The period of inadmissibility for an operator whose fishing vessel is included in the Union list of fishing vessels engaged in illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing as referred to in Article 27 of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 shall be the whole period during which the fishing vessel is included in that list and, in any event, not less than 24 months from the date of its listing. 2. Operators whose fishing vessel is flagged to a country identified as a non-cooperating third country as provided for in Article 33 of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 shall be inadmissible during the whole period while that country is listed and, in any event, for a minimum period of 12 months. 3. The starting date of the inadmissibility period shall be the date of entry into force of the Commission Regulation (EU) No 468/2010 ( 7 ) establishing the Union IUU vessel list or of the Council Implementing Decision 2014/170/EU ( 8 ) establishing the list of non-cooperating third countries or the date of an amendment to such a Regulation or a Decision whereby a fishing vessel or a country would be added to such a list.
Inadmissibility of applications by operators that have committed fraud in the context of the EFF or the EMFF
1. Where it is determined by a competent authority that an operator committed a fraud in the context of the EFF or EMFF, all applications for EMFF support by that operator shall be inadmissible from the date of the first official decision establishing the fraud as defined in Article 1 of the Convention on the protection of the European Communities' financial interests ( 9 ) . 2. The inadmissibility period shall last until the end of the eligibility period of the EMFF as set out to in Article 65(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013.
Calculation of the inadmissibility period where the operator owns more than one fishing vessel
1. Where an operator owns or controls more than one fishing vessel, the inadmissibility period of an application by that operator shall be determined separately in relation to each individual fishing vessel, in accordance with Article 3 or Article 4. 2. However, applications for EMFF support by that operator shall also be inadmissible: (a) if applications in relation to more than half of fishing vessels owned or controlled by that operator are inadmissible for EMFF support pursuant to Article 3 and Article 4, or (b) if, in the case of serious infringements pursuant to Article 42(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 listed in points 1, 2, and 5 of Annex XXX to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011, the average number of assigned infringement points per fishing vessel owned or controlled by the operator is 7 or more. 3. By way of derogation from paragraphs 1 and 2, where a serious infringement committed by an operator is not related to any fishing vessel owned or controlled by that operator, all applications for EMFF support by that operator shall be inadmissible.
Transfer of ownership
1. In the case of a sale or other type of transfer of ownership of a fishing vessel, the inadmissibility period concerning the operator transferring the fishing vessel and resulting from serious infringements committed prior to the change of ownership shall not be transferred to the new operator. The inadmissibility of applications by the new operator can only result from new serious infringements committed by that new operator. 2. However, where infringement points are assigned for serious infringements within the meaning of Article 42(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 listed in points 1, 2, and 5 of Annex XXX to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011 committed prior to the change of ownership of the fishing vessel, those points shall be taken into account for the purposes of calculating the inadmissibility period of the new operator pursuant to Article 3(2) and Article 6(2)(b) if that operator commits a new serious infringement under Article 42(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 listed in points 1, 2, and 5 of Annex XXX to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011.
Permanent withdrawal of the fishing licence
By way of derogation from Article 6, where the fishing licence of an operator has been permanently withdrawn for any of the fishing vessels owned or controlled by that operator: (a) in accordance with Article 129(2) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011; or, where applicable, (b) as a result of sanctions for serious infringements imposed by the Member States in accordance with Article 45 of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008, all applications by that operator shall be inadmissible for support from the EMFF from the date of the withdrawal until the end of the eligibility period as set out in Article 65(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013.
Revision of inadmissibility period
Provided it lasts at least 12 months in total, the inadmissibility period: (a) hall be reduced in the case of serious infringements pursuant to Article 42(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 listed in points 1, 2, and 5 of Annex XXX to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011 by 2 months if 2 infringement points are deleted in accordance with Article 133(3) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011 for such serious infringements; (b) shall be extended by 12 months for each additional serious infringement committed by the operator during the inadmissibility period under Article 42(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 or Article 90(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009; or (c) by way of derogation from paragraph (b), shall be extended in accordance with the rules set out in Article 3(2)(c) for each additional serious infringement committed by the operator during the inadmissibility period under Article 42(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 listed in items 1, 2 and 5 of Annex XXX to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011;
Entry into force
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union . It shall apply from 1 January 2014.
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