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EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Sustainable Fisheries Policy:
Euro 32 Million for the Reduction of the Fishing Fleet
DN: IP /02/1087 date 17/07/2002
IP/02/1087
Brussels,
Sustainable Fisheries Policy: Euro 32 Million for the Reduction of the Fishing Fleet
The Commission has approved today an amending letter n°1 to its preliminary draft budget 2003 covering an amount of €32 million for a Community measure for scrapping fishing vessels. It is an important part of the major review of the Common Fisheries Policy proposed by the Commission on the 28th of May 2002 and now under consideration in the Council. This amending letter confirms the intention of the Commission to provide for the financial needs deemed necessary for implementing this ambitious reform aimed at a fishing fleet whose capacity is in line with available resources and safeguarding the future of the sector. Budget Commissioner Schreyer said: "The overall objective of the fishery reform is to develop sustainable fishing activities, by adjusting fishing capacities to sustainable stocks. To this end a supplementary contribution of €32 million in the year 2003 will help to launch this fundamental change of policy which also aims at protecting natural resources for future generations."
This proposal addresses the over-capacity in fisheries by allowing Member States to offer additional money to vessels owners, affected by necessary fishing effort reductions, for scrapping their vessels.
This reform of the fisheries policy will have important financial consequences since the cost for the Community budget of scrapping some 8 592 vessels has been estimated at €712 million by the Commission. Since Member States have already earmarked, with the support of the Community budget, substantial amounts of money in their current programmes for structural measures in the fishing sector, the Commission has evaluated the additional amount of Community money necessary to carry out the decommissioning of vessels at €272 million over the period 2003-2006.
The largest part of this extra-financing should come through re-deployment of financial means within the already-planned Structural Funds programmes 2000-2006. For example, the Commission has proposed that capacity increases in the fishing sector will no longer be subsidised. This would come under review next year in preparation of the remaining part of the period 2004-2006. Social and regional consequences of the reform will also be addressed in the mid-term review of Structural Funds programmes.
As the mid-term review of Structural Funds will not come into effect before 2004, the additional amount of €32 million is decisive in initiating the reform of the fisheries policy in 2003, thereby enabling the decommissioning of fleet excess capacity to start without delay.
As this extra-funding will exceed the financial perspective ceiling relative to structural operations, the Commission proposed last week to the budgetary authority to mobilise to this end the flexibility instrument that allows financing for a given year of clearly identified expenditure which could not be financed within the corresponding ceiling.
Annexe : Financial intervention (click here to download table)
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