Structural assistance in the fisheries sector: rules and arrangements

The European Parliament adopted a resolution based on the report by Daniel VARELA SUANZES-CARPEGNA (EPP-ED, Spain) by 350 votes for, 124 against and 60 abstentions. It made some amendments to the Commission's proposal. (Please refer to the document dated 12/11/02.) The following additional amendments were made : - the fleet limitation policy should take into account the degree to which the objectives laid down in MAGPs for each Member State have been complied with and also involve a full assessment of "exported capacity" and circumvention of the rules by Member States; - in order to gain access to aid for fleet renewal and modernisation, Member States must comply with all the requirements of the reference levels for the fleet and be subject to a permanent arrangement by the Commission. They must demonstrate that entries and exits from the fleet are managed in such a way that capacity does not exceed the annual objectives of the MAGP 1997-2002 (MAGP IV) and that a link is maintained between entries and exits so as to ensure that capacity does not increase; - alternative management measures should be used alongside gradual fleet reduction measures, such as the system based on regulating days at sea, the adoption of biological recovery periods, and technical measures geared to more selective fishing and fewer discards.�