Brussels, 24/07/2007 (Agence Europe) - Following consultation of the member states, on Tuesday 24 July, the European Commission formally adopted a new regulation on “de minimis” aid to the fisheries sector. This is low level state aid which does not need to be notified to the Commission and which will not endanger competition in the internal market (see EUROPE 9217 for Commission's initial proposal).
Under the new regulation, which comes into effect seven days after its publication in the Official Journal, the total amount of aid granted to a single fishing firm over a three-year period must not exceed €30,000. This ceiling applies whatever the form and purpose of the aid. Since 2004, the ceiling has been set at only €3,000 per firm over three years.
Given the aims of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), aid which aims to increase fishing capacity (tonnage or power) and aid for the purchase or construction of fishing vessels do not fall within the scope of this directive; although there are exceptions for some forms of aid for modernisation of the main deck (improvement of safety on board). Neither does the regulation apply to aid: - the amount of which is set in relation to the price or quality of products marketed; - directly linked to quantities exported; - a prerequisite for which is use of national products rather than imported ones; - granted to firms experiencing difficulty (for which there are specific provisions).
The total amount of aid granted to the various fishing firms must not exceed the following three-year ceiling per member state: - France, €138.55 million; - Spain, €127.88 million; - United Kingdom, €102.725 million; - Italy, €94.325 million; - Denmark, €57.65 million; - Germany, €48.95 million; - Netherlands, €35.875 million; - Poland, € 21.125 million; - Greece, €18.015 million; - Portugal, €15.688 million; - Belgium, €11.8 million; - Sweden, € 11.153 million; - Ireland, €8.508 million; - Finland, €7.075 million; - Lithuania, €5.233 million; - Latvia, €3.923 million; - Estonia, €3.718 million; - Cyprus, €1.562 million; - Slovakia, €1.133 million; - Czech Republic, €1.008 million; - Hungary, €740,000; - Austria, €620,000; - Romania, €524,000; - Bulgaria, €433,000; - Slovenia, €338,000; - Malta, €255,000; - Luxembourg, 0. The ceiling corresponds to 2.5% of the member state's annual national fisheries output.
In principle, all new state aid has to be notified to the Commission before being paid to beneficiaries. There are, however, exemptions for several categories of aid, including lesser amounts of aid, called “de minimis” aid. Their exemption from the system is based on the idea that, below a certain level, aid will not have any noticeable effect on trade between member states and that, consequently, it is not banned by the European Treaty. Raising the ceiling from €3,000 to €30,000 means that the number of awards of aid to be notified will be reduced, allowing the Commission to concentrate on issues felt to be more important or more complex, and to speed up the decision-making process with these issues. (lc)