Brussels, 10/07/2003 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday the Commission adopted a proposal to make the existing rules for granting State Aid in the fisheries sector. This draft regulation adopted in December 2002 under the reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), suggests exempting most categories of state aid in the fisheries sector from prior notification to the Commission. The block exemption strengthens the ex-post reporting obligations of Member States and creates transparency for cases in which they increase national aid above certain thresholds. Once in force, the regulations on block exemption will be directly applicable in Member States. It will thus put national judges in the position to rule on the compatibility of aid with the Internal Market, for example on the basis of complaints by competitors. This function was previously limited to the Commission.
Commissioner Franz Fischler, said: "This is a balanced package which will benefit stakeholders in the fisheries sector. It will allow for simpler and quicker procedures so that Member States are able to respond in a timely manner to the challenges faced by the sector while ensuring that the rules are adhered to."
The block exemption from notification for categories of aid are applicable to those which are unlikely to threaten conservation of fish resources or distort competition and which have been approved regularly by the Commission over previous years. Such aid would have to comply strictly with the criteria applicable to financial support granted under the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG. The categories exempted include aid for: promotion and/or advertising of fisheries ;producers' groups; protection; and development of aquatic resources; innovative measures and technical assistance; fishing port facilities; scrapping of fishing vessels; socio-economic measures; investment in processing and/or marketing of fisheries products; aquaculture and inland fishing.
The block exemption will apply to aid granted to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for amounts below € 1 million or to aid designed to finance measures with a maximum eligible amount of € 2 million. To ensure the proper allocation of such aid, monitoring will take place through ex post reporting obligations. If these obligations are not complied with by Member States, the draft regulation foresees the possibility to suspend the block exemption. The exemption would not apply if the granting of a state aid would lead to a threshold being exceeded which will be determined by categories of aid based on past levels granted by each Member State and expressed according to objective criteria.
The Commission will also revise the guidelines concerning those types of aid (those which cannot benefit from the block exemption). These include, aid to the fleet, aid for temporary cessation of fishing activities and for compensation for damages due to natural disasters or exceptional circumstances.