Brussels, 28/11/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 27 November the European Commission adopted a draft amendment of the 2004 regulation setting up the Regional Advisory Councils (RACs), which allow for the parties concerned to participate in the decision-marking process for Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The Commission's proposed amendment would strengthen the RACs and provide them with a stable Commission is seeking to define the RACs as bodies that pursue goal of general European interests, which will now allow for them to be allocation a fixed and higher financial contribution from the EU budget of € 250,000 per. The Commission's proposal explains that the experience illustrates that the existing RACs “have experienced difficulties in operating effectively within this financial framework”. The new financial modalities should allow for simplification of the management of subsidies by merging the two current subsidies into a single subsidy for each Regional Advisory Council.
According to current rules, the Commission pays two different subsidies to the RACs over five years (details in EUROPE 8711): one is for covering translation and interpreting costs of €50,000 a years and the other is for phasing in and covers working costs (€200,00 a year, 90% of the costs, €165,00 for the second year or 75% of costs), €132,00 for the third, 60%, €121,000 for the fourth, 55% and €110,000, 50% for the fifth and last year.
The Commission considers it necessary to grant these bodies greater financial stability in light of the experience of the four RACs that currently exist (the North Sea, the pelagic stocks, the North Western waters and the Baltic Sea) out of the seven that have been planned. The Commission is proposing to cover up to 90 % of their costs. The annual allocation would amount to € 250,000 per RAC. This should cover both their operational costs and their translation and interpretation costs. For the total over the 2007-13 financial period, the Commission is planning on granting a budget of €12 million for the seven RACs. For the three RACs that still have to be set up, the Commission is planning on funds from 2007 for two of them (remote fishing and southern waters) and from 2008 for that dealing with Mediterranean subjects only. (lc)