Brussels, 22/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Monday evening, EU Fisheries Ministers were moving towards an agreement on the European Fisheries Fund 2007-2013. in the evening they considered a draft compromise from the Austrian Presidency offering possibilities of interest to countries which, like Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Greece, Poland the Baltic States, are seeking to extend possible Community funding for the modernisation of the fleet to the maximum. But some countries in the opposing camp, like the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany, fear that negotiations could lead to too much aid for the fleet. After seeking everyone's views, the Presidency and the Commission met the most reticent of delegations individually. European Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg said that he did not, under any circumstances, want to go back on the important decisions of the reform in December 2002, that is, the ending, from 1st January 2005, of public aid to construct new vessels.
Here are the most important elements of the compromise accepted by the Commission.
New engines: aware of the difficulties being experienced by the sector, particularly because of the high price of fuel, the Commission has authorised Community and national aid to replace engines, on condition that there is no increase in capacity. The text of the compromise authorises aid to replace an engine if: - the engine of vessels under 12 metres not using towed gear is as powerful as, or less powerful than, the one to be replaced; - for vessels between 12 and 24 metres, the new engine has to be at least 20% less powerful than the previous one; - for trawlers of over 24 metres, the new engine has to be at least 20% less powerful than the previous one and the vessel must opt for a fishing method that uses less fuel. Public funding for vessels of less than 12 metres is 60%, and for vessels over 12 metres 20%.
Increasing the number of young people: the compromise allows for aid, with 50% co-financing from the EU, for fishers under 40 years of age who wish to buy a second-hand vessel (between 5 and 30 years old and under 24 metres). The ceiling for this aid is 55,000 euro.
Entry-exit scheme: currently, vessels removed from the fleet with public aid can not be replaced by new vessels entering the fleet. Departing from this rule, the Commission accepts that 3% of the tonnage capacity removed is retained to be used (without public aid) by fishers wanting to invest in their vessels for the purpose of improving security.