On Monday 12 April, the European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries will examine the draft opinion by François-Xavier Bellamy (EPP, France) which corrects the European Commission’s proposal on the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (see EUROPE 12679/10).
In his draft opinion, the rapporteur proposes: - to provide a clear legal basis to ensure that aid allocated from the adjustment reserve does not conflict with State aid; - to exclude sectors not affected by Brexit, such as financial services; - to extend the eligibility period to June 2026 for the fisheries sector in order to make the calendar for the reserve consistent with the agreement with the UK; - to change the fund allocation key (the calculation used for fishing).
The Committee on Regional Development is responsible for the substance of the matter.
Mr Bellamy’s draft opinion aims to extend the eligibility period from 1 July 2020 to 31 December 2022 for all sectors “with the exception of fisheries, for which the eligibility period should be extended to 30 June 2026, by which time the loss of the 25% of the value of the products caught in UK waters by EU fleets will be fully effective”.
The draft opinion provides for compensation measures for operators in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors, including for product processing activities, and for measures to support temporary or permanent cessation of fishing activities.
The factor related to “products caught in the exclusive economic zone of the United Kingdom and its special status territories” is proposed in the opinion to allocate the €600 million Brexit adjustment reserve (as opposed to the “fish caught” factor in the Commission’s proposal). The factor linked to trade would be used to allocate the remaining €3.4 billion of this reserve.
To consult Mr Bellamy’s draft opinion: https://bit.ly/3wtQwBw (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)