Brussels, 04/08/2006 (Agence Europe) - As expected (EUROPE 9242) the European Commission has proposed to extend until 31 December 2006 a scheme allowing derogations from the general EU rules on the management of fishing fleets and the granting of public aid for fleet modernisation and renewal, in the Azores and Madeira, the Canary Islands and the French overseas departments.
The derogations mainly concern the following: Conditions for the entry of fishing vessels: outermost regions may introduce new capacity into the fleet without the withdrawal of a similar capacity, up to a certain limit. Aid for renewal of the fleet: On the continent, public aid for the renewal of fishing vessels ceased to be available from 1 January 2005 but for the outermost regions, public aid for the construction of fishing vessels may still be granted until the end of the year; aid for modernisation of the fleet. The granting of such aid is normally subject to the condition that the aid may not concern capacity in terms of tonnage or power but this condition does not apply to the outermost regions.