Brussels, 23/12/2002 (Agence Europe) - After a marathon five day Council, the EU's fisheries ministers adopted regulations on Friday evening reforming the Common Fisheries Policy which will come into force on 1 January 2003. Germany and Sweden were the only countries that did not come round to the compromise solution. France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Ireland (and Finland) finally won the continuation until 31 December 2004 of public aid for renewing ships of under 400 tonnes, but at the last moment the European Commission managed to get them to agree in return to cut the national fishing fleet by at least 3% in 2003 and 2004. As reported in Europe of 21 December (page 9), the Council also endorsed regulations on total admissible catches (TACs) and quotas for 2003, foreseeing less stringent reductions than initially announced for cod (recovery measures involving fishing effort limitations have also been agreed for specific areas), southern hake, haddock, sole and Norway lobster.
In the framework of reforming the CFP, the Council adopted three new regulations, namely a framework regulation on conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources; a regulation on emergency Community measures for scrapping fishing vessels and a regulation on Community structural assistance. The main changes can be resumed as follows:
Public aid. Aid for the renewal of fishing vessels will be authorised up until 31 December 2004 subject to the following conditions: for each gross registered tonne introduced in the fleet with public aid, Member States will have to decommission without aid an equivalent amount of capacity (1: 1 entry/exit ratio) for vessels up to 100 GRT (gross registered tonnes) or 1.35 tonnes (1: 1.35 ratio) for vessels over 100 GRT; in 2003 and 2004, Member States granting state aid for building new vessels will have to cut their fleets by 3%; and Member States must ensure that the total capacity of the new ships is lower than the decommissioned capacity. Aid for fleet updating can be granted until the end of the financial programming period (2006) but only for vessels more than 5 years old and only in order to improve safety conditions, working conditions and product quality or to install satellite control systems. Such aid may increase tonnage but only for ship infrastructure and modernisation may not be used to increase fishing capacity. Aid for exporting ships to non-EU countries may be eligible for co-funding from the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (the Structural Funds) until the end of 2004, subject to strict conditions (mentioned in Europe of 21 December, p.8). Turning ships into joint ventures may also be funded. Along with setting reference levels for fleet capacity reductions, this will enable a simpler fleet management system to be set up to replace the Multi-Annual Guidance Programmes (MAGP), which will be scrapped on 1 January 2003.
Long-term management of stocks and emergency measures. A longer-term approach is established, with multi-annual recovery plans for stocks outside safe biological limits and multi-annual management plans for other stocks. Effort limitations might also be set, but only in stock recovery plans and on a case-by-case Council decision. From 2003, multi-annual recovery and management plans are foreseen for southern hake, sole in the Western Channel and Bay of Biscay, haddock in Rocktall and Norway lobster in the Iberian peninsula. If there is a real threat to the conservation of these resources, the Commission might decide to take emergency measures for a renewable six-month period. The emergency decisions taken by the Member States in their own waters will apply for three months. Moreover, Member States will be authorised to adopt conservation and management measures applicable to all fishing vessels within their 12-mile zones, provided they are not discriminatory and that consultations have been held with the Commission and the Member States concerned.
Special vessel withdrawal programme: To help Member States reduce fishing effort by their fleets, a special vessel withdrawal programme will be introduced. Vessels affected by stock recovery plans and whose fishing effort has been reduced by at least 25% will be eligible. The premiums will be 20% higher than those provided under the MAGP for scrapping. The aid will come on top of all schemes available to Member States to deal with the socio-economic consequences of the reform (premiums for temporary cessation of activity and compensation to help fishermen train for work in other sectors).
Access to resources: the 6-12 mile system has been renewed until 31 December 2012. Restrictions on access to certain zones such as the Shetland Box will be maintained until the Council decides, at the end of 2004 (on a proposal from the Commission in 2003), whether changes should be made. The Council has not yet taken a decision on the fate of the Irish Box (pitting Spain against Ireland) because it first has to study the Commission proposal (see EUROPE of 20 December, page 10). With the expiry on 31 December of the provisions on access to resources established under the Acts of Accession of Spain and Portugal (and Finland), these countries will have the right to fish in the North Sea for species that are not subject to TACs. In addition, the principle of relative stability (based on a defined share of stocks for each Member State) is maintained, as were "The Hague preferences" (allocation of additional quotas in the northern part of the United Kingdom and Ireland).
Control: Inspections by Community officials without the assistance of Member State inspectors will be subject to very strict conditions (this was one of Spain's major concerns). The date for the installation of satellite monitoring systems was set at 1 January 2004 for vessels over 18 metres in length and 1 January 2005 for those over 15 metres. The Commission will be able to take preventive measures "if there is evidence that fishing activities could lead to a serious threat for the conservation of resources". These preventive measures will be applicable for a period of three weeks. They can be prolonged up to a maximum of six months (as compared to 12 months in the Commission's initial proposals).
Commissioner Fischler says the Council decisions deserve the name "reform"
At the end of the meeting, Commissioner Franz Fischler said "this day will mark an historic success in the history of European fisheries policy. Never before have we managed to agree on such a spectacular recovery programme. The Ministers took the difficult decision to change course and it is a real reform that has been adopted." He added that "it is fishermen who will benefit first and foremost from the new CFP," explaining however that "we must make every effort to help them overcome the social impact of the decline of many fish stocks." Mr Fischler said the compromise agreed by the Member States "preserves the gist of our initial reform proposals". He welcomed the fact that "no more public funds will be spent on enlarging further a fleet that is already too big." Mr Fischler also praised the approval by the Fifteen of a new approach to stock management through fishing effort (at least for measures to rebuild cod stocks: Ed.). "Fishing will now be practised in such a way that the time spent at sea by fishermen corresponds to the volumes they can catch," he added.
"We can be satisfied with the agreement reached today, especially considering where we started," declared French Minister Hervé Gaymard, who was delighted to have delayed as long as possible the elimination of public aid for the building of new vessels. Portuguese Minister Armando Sevinate Pinto also claimed victory over a deal offering "the possibility to continue investing to improve and modernise the Portuguese fleet" (even though Portugal has already used all its funds to 2006 for this purpose: Ed.).
Cod recovery measures were modified considerably during negotiations
The negotiations on recovery measures for cod stocks were not concluded until Friday evening. The debate pitted Germany and Sweden, who have always fought for a moratorium on fishing for these species, against the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and Spain. In the end, the measures proposed initially by the Commission were amended in large measure and increasingly important derogations allowed. The provisions only concern: - cod stocks (whereas they were originally intended to cover hake and related species such as whiting, haddock, sole and Norway lobster); - certain zones, namely the North Sea, western Scotland and Skagerrak/Kattegat, the eastern Channel and the Irish Sea, have been excluded from the measures to the advantage of Irish and French fishermen (Boulogne-usr-Mer). Only vessels over 10 metres long will be subject to the rules, which will apply from 1 February. Effort limitation measures are introduced in addition to TACs by playing on the number of days at sea, which varies from 0 to 25 days a month depending on the zone and the fishing gear. A genuine cod and hake stock recovery plan (containing other provisions on fishing effort and an increase in mesh size or the closure of fishing zones) will not be introduced before 1 July 2003.
German Minister Renate Künast explained that his dissenting vote on the reform was due to the "insufficient" nature of the measures adopted, especially for the protection of cod stocks. Using harsher terms, representatives of Greenpeace and WWF denounced a "pathetic" failure, which risks "condemning the species to death". Even watered down, the reform will nontheless have a "very strong" and "inevitable" social impact, warned on Saturday the British Secretary of State for Fisheries, Elliott Morley.