09/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is doing its utmost to avoid an interruption to the fishing activities of the Community fleet off the coast of Angola. It has taken all the provisions to carry out in the coming days, and certainly before the end of the month of January, the payment of the first slice of the financial compensation due under the fishing agreement that links the European Community with Angola. The delay that arose in the signing of the fishing protocol as well as the weight of the consultation procedure of the Parliament and Council and the various administrative issues have delayed the payment that the EU had undertaken to make before the end of 2000. In the last days, the Angolan authorities had made it be known that they are seriously considering suspending the authorisation for fishing activities as foreseen by the agreement in case of a failure to make a payment.