Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/288 is amended as follows:
(1)
Article 1 is replaced by the following:
‘Article 1
Subject matter and scope
This Regulation applies to applications for support from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) and identifies the period during which such applications submitted by operators who have carried out any of the actions referred to in Article 10(1)(a), (b) and (d) of Regulation (EU) No 508/2014, or in Article 10(3) of that Regulation, shall be inadmissible (the inadmissibility period).’;
(2)
the following Article 4a is inserted:
‘Article 4a
Inadmissibility of applications by operators who have committed environmental offences
1. Where a competent authority has determined in a first official decision that an operator has committed one of the offences set out in Article 3 of Directive 2008/99/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ( *1 ) , applications for support from the EMFF made by that operator pursuant to Chapter II of Title V of Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 shall be inadmissible:
(a)
for a period of 12 months, if the offence was committed with serious negligence; or
(b)
for a period of 24 months, if the offence was committed intentionally.
2. Where a competent authority has determined in a first official decision that an operator has committed one of the offences set out in Article 4 of Directive 2008/99/EC, applications for support from the EMFF made by that operator pursuant to Chapter II of Title V of Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 shall be inadmissible for a period of 24 months.
3. The inadmissibility period shall be increased by 6 months where in the decision referred to in paragraph 1 or 2 the competent authority has:
(a)
explicitly referred to the presence of aggravating circumstances; or
(b)
determined that an offence committed by the operator was carried out over a period of more than 1 year.
4. Provided that it lasts at least 12 months in total, the inadmissibility period shall be reduced by 6 months if the competent authority has explicitly referred to the presence of mitigating circumstances in its decision referred to in paragraph 1 or 2.
5. The starting date of the inadmissibility period shall be the date of the first official decision by a competent authority determining that one or more of the offences set out in Articles 3 and 4 of Directive 2008/99/EC were committed.
6. For the purposes of calculating the inadmissibility period, only decisions referring to offences 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.
7. Where an application of an operator is inadmissible under paragraphs 1 and 2, all applications of that operator pursuant to Chapter II of Title V of Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 shall be inadmissible.
( *1 ) Directive 2008/99/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on the protection of the environment through criminal law ( OJ L 328, 6.12.2008, p. 28 ).’;"
(3)
Article 9 is amended as follows:
(a)
the following points (d) and (e) are added:
‘(d)
shall be extended by the following periods for each additional offence set out in Article 3 of Directive 2008/99/EC committed by the operator during the inadmissibility period:
(i)
12 months, if the additional offence has been committed with serious negligence;
(ii)
24 months if the additional offence has been committed intentionally;
(e)
shall be extended by 24 months for each additional offence set out in Article 4 of Directive 2008/99/EC committed by the operator during the inadmissibility period’;
(b)
the following paragraph is added:
‘If an additional offence referred to in point (d) or (e) of the first paragraph is of the same type of environmental offences as the one which has caused the inadmissibility period or which has already led to its revision, the extension of the inadmissibility period due to that offence as provided for in points (d) and (e) shall be increased by an additional 6 months.’