According to Article 43(3) of the Treaty, the Council, on a proposal from the Commission, should adopt measures on the fixing and allocation of fishing opportunities.

Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 of 20 December 2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the common fisheries policy1 requires that measures governing access to waters and resources and the sustainable pursuit of fishing activities be established taking into account available scientific advice and, in particular, the report drawn up by the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF).

It is incumbent upon the Council to adopt measures on the fixing and allocation of fishing opportunities by fishery or group of fisheries, including certain conditions functionally linked thereto, as appropriate. Fishing opportunities should be distributed among Member States in such a way as to assure each Member State relative stability of fishing activities for each stock or fishery and having due regard to the objectives of the common fisheries policy established in Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002.

The total allowable catches (TACs) should be established on the basis of the available scientific advice, by taking into account the biological and socioeconomic aspects whilst ensuring fair treatment between fishing sectors, as well as in light of the opinions expressed during the consultation of stakeholders, in particular at the meetings with the Advisory Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture and the concerned Regional Advisory Councils.

For stocks subject to specific multiannual plans, the fishing opportunities should be established in accordance with the rules laid down in these plans. Consequently, catch limits and fishing effort limits for the cod stocks in the Baltic Sea should be established in accordance with the rules laid down in Council Regulation (EC) No 1098/2007 of 18 September 2007 establishing a multiannual plan for the cod stocks in the Baltic Sea and the fisheries exploiting those stocks2.

The use of fishing opportunities set out in this Regulation is subject to Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 of 20 November 2009 establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the common fisheries policy3 and in particular to Articles 33 and 34 thereof concerning the recording of catches and fishing effort and the notification of data on the exhaustion of fishing opportunities respectively. It is therefore necessary to specify the codes to be used by the Member States when sending data to the Commission relating to landings of stocks subject to this Regulation.

In accordance with Article 2 of Council Regulation (EC) No 847/96 of 6 May 1996 introducing additional conditions for year-to-year management of TACs and quotas4, the stocks that are subject to the various measures referred to therein must be identified.

To ensure the livelihood of Union fishermen, it is important to open these fisheries on 1 January 2011,