Full report of Education, Youth and Culture Council, 23 February (link)

Brussels, 24 February 2006

10th Council Meeting - Education, Youth and Culture. Brussels, 23 February 2006
Provisional version

Main Results of the Council

The Council adopted a regulation establishing a multi-annual plan for the sustainable exploitation of the stock sole in the Bay of Biscay.

The Council adopted a directive on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to risks arising from physical agents (artificial optical radiation).

The Council adopted a common position with a view to the adoption of a directive laying down technical requirements for inland waterway vessels and repealing directive 82/174/EEC .

The Council adopted contributions addressed to the Spring European Council.

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Sole stocks

The Council adopted a regulation establishing a multi-annual plan for the sustainable exploitation of the stock sole in the Bay of Biscay, following a political agreement reached at Council's meeting on 20-22 December 2005 (5696/06, 5697/06 ADD1).

The objective of the plan is to bring the spawning stock biomass of Bay of Biscay sole above the precautionary level of 13 000 tones in 2008 by gradually reducing the fishing mortality rate on the stock. After this date the Council will decide on a long-term target fishing mortality rate and a rate of reduction in the fishing mortality rate. Each year the Council will decide on a total allowable catch (TAC) for the following year for Bay of Biscay sole.

In order to limit fishing effort, measured as the sum of the engine power in kilowatt and the number of days fishing in the area, the regulation provides for: either a special sole fishing permit in the Bay of Biscay which will be granted to vessels fishing more than 2000 kg of sole by the member states, or for a member state whose quota for sole in this area is less than 10% of the TAC, the level of fishing effort must not exceed the reference level of the fishing effort in 2006.