Resolution on the socio-economic crisis in the whitefish sector

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the crisis in the whitefish sector, expressing concern about the job losses entailed in the Council's proposals adopted in December 2002. It called for a plan to compensate for losses incurred by coastal communities as a result of the cod conservation measures, and to allocate up to EUR 150 million of additional EU funding. This additional funding is compatible with the ceiling of heading 2 of the Financial Perspective, but entails a reprogramming of existing policies to be agreed by the budgetary authority, or recourse to the provisions of the interinstitutional agreement of 6 May 19992. The Commission is asked to present a proposal to this effect basis by 30 June 2003. The Commission and the Council must ensure that any changes made to the current conservation measures for cod are designed to maximise the probability of a recovery of the cod stocks and do not have the effect of furthering their decline. Finally, Parliament asked for more sophisticated long-term conservation measures which, while offering the prospect of cod recovery, would also secure the maximum number of jobs in the EU whitefish sector.�