Strasbourg, 26/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - In Strasbourg on Thursday 26 April, the European Parliament decided to relax the criteria for aid for fishing fleets in order to facilitate the strengthening of on-board safety measures and energy efficiency (see EUROPE 9408 on the draft report). Adopting the report by Ioannis Glavakis (EPP-ED, Greece) by 572 votes to 35, with 10 abstentions, the EP amended two areas of the proposal incorporating European Fisheries Fund 2007-2013 measures into the 2002 rules on aid for fishing fleets (see EUROPE 9286).
The initial proposal authorised the payment of public aid for changing fishing vessels' engines. For ships more than 12 metres long, the new engine has to be 20% less powerful than the previous one. The EP adopted an amendment noting that this reduction in engine capacity must never in any circumstances reduce safety conditions and fish treatment conditions on board. The EP also scrapped the obligation to cut power when engines are changed to save energy and/or improve the ship's performance in other ways than fishing capacity, or if more selective fishing is selected for the ship. An amendment from the Socialist group at the European Parliament adopted by the plenary stipulates that the option of updating boats is maintained without any time restrictions, or restrictions concerning the age of the ship, when the aim is to improve on-board safety and working conditions as long as fishing capacity is not increased.
Under the Commission's proposal, a 'tonnage bank' gives member states the option of using up to 4% of the tonnage of ships removed from the fleet (through the premium for destroying ships) for updating ships (improving on-board hygiene and safety). The EP increased this to 10% of tonnage withdrawn using public aid to enable the industry to further increase safety, hygiene, working conditions and on-board product quality. The MEPs feel this measure should be granted as a priority to small fishing boats working off the coast, which are less than 12 metres long. (lc)