Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-03-26-Speech-3-166"
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"en.20030326.11.3-166"2
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"Mr President, on 15 November 2001 I was rapporteur for the report on Regulation (EC) No 2561/2001 on the conversion of boats and fishermen dependent on the fisheries agreement with Morocco. On that occasion, Parliament agreed a series of amendments that seem to be very similar to the proposal before us today. They sought to make the regulation more flexible and to convert this particular Community fleet. As I am sure the Commissioner is aware, the fleet is based in Andalusia, the Canary Islands, Galicia and Portugal, It was left without their traditional fishing-ground.
The Council adopted this Regulation accepting, though only to a limited extent, some of Parliament’s amendments. In due course, the weaknesses of the text adopted became clear. As we had anticipated, it proved too rigid. It did not allow a significant part of the sector concerned to access the aid for conversion.
The Committee on Fisheries has visited Galicia and Andalusia over the last two years. It noted that the non-renewal of the agreement seriously affected 400 boats, 4 300 fishermen and whole regions of Galicia and Andalusia. A large number of associated industries were brought to a virtual standstill. Last December, EUR 30 million was allocated to those affected by the
disaster. The allocation of this money made it clear that it was not possible to spend it and that this regulation was inadequate.
The draft resolution tabled by the Committee on Fisheries rightly calls on the Commission to put forward an amendment to improve this regulation and make it sufficiently flexible. We call on the Commission to present a proposal to amend the present regulation as a matter of urgency. We need this to solve the problems we are currently encountering in applying the regulation to fishermen. Above all, aid should not be linked to shipowners’ decisions.
The Commission told us a few weeks ago that it could not propose amendments to the regulation because the Spanish authorities had not submitted the required information to the Commission. When she met with the Committee on Fisheries, the Director-General of Fisheries of the Andalusian Regional Government told us that the Spanish authorities had not submitted the necessary information on the proportion of fishermen from this region who had received benefits during the six months’ ban to the Regional Government. The authorities in Andalusia did not therefore even know exactly how many fishermen were entitled to aid. Consequently, they had to establish six offices in the most affected ports to provide information on this aid. This entailed employing 12 people, an investment of EUR 721 000 from their own funds and the provision of a free telephone service. Commissioner, in Andalusia alone, fishermen have made 800 visits and 1 500 enquires.
We are not asking for more money. We are asking for a better regulation so that the money allocated can be used efficiently for the purpose for which it was intended."@en1
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