Brussels, 18/02/2005 (Agence Europe) - Fisheries experts from EU Member States generally supported, on Thursday, the proposal allowing for subsidised transfer of EU fishing boats to the disaster-stricken areas of Asia after the tidal wave end December last (EUROPE of 11 February 2005, p.8, and also this edition, p.7). Nonetheless, some Member States - Germany, Sweden, Denmark - felt (as did some NGOs) that it would be less costly to directly send the money needed for purchasing fishing vessels or for rehabilitating shipyards to the affected countries in regions of the Indian Ocean.
During the meeting of the Council's working group on fisheries, the Commission pointed out that it would be possible to send around one hundred vessels to these countries. It specified the amount of premiums paid to fishermen that agree to take part in the operation: EUR 62,500 for vessels aged five to fifteen years and EUR 52,500 for vessels from sixteen to twenty years old. These amounts take account of the 20% increase foreseen for transporting the vessels to the Asian regions and for covering the costs of shipowners who must put the vessels back into good condition.
Several delegations, like Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Portugal, stressed that they would prefer to send 4-7 metre boats (compared to boats under 12 metres in the proposal) which are closer to the dimensions usually used by local fishermen. Some of these delegations also stressed the harmful effect (overfishing and exhaustion of stocks) that could be entailed by transferring boats that are not adapted for the requirements of these regions. Improvements to the initial Commission text were made to take some of these remarks into account. Thus, the amended proposal is firm about the creation of a control mechanism associating NGOs and the FAO to prevent adverse impact on these regions (over-exploitation of resources). Furthermore, specialists said that the procedure allowing for suspension of operations for the transfer of fishing boats when the conditions required (size, age, state of the boat) are not respected: the Member State must notify the Commission of the group of boats that it plans to send to the region. The Commission has two months in which to inform the Member State that the operation is not possible. If the Commission does not respond within these two months, the Member State can nonetheless carry out the transfer. The deadline for national administrative authorisation for the transfer of fishing vessels to the Asian regions remains that initially proposed, namely 30 June 2006.
The Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States of the EU (Coreper) is to give its stance on the proposal on 23 February, the aim being to reach a political agreement from the Agriculture Council on 28 February. The European Parliament must decide on Tuesday in Strasbourg whether or not it agrees to cast an emergency vote on the proposal.