Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-07-09-Speech-3-517"
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"en.20080709.43.3-517"2
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"Mr President, firstly I am very grateful to the European Parliament for arranging this debate at such short notice.
A number of specific initiatives to promote the value of fish at the first point of sale are also envisaged. The Commission is planning to assist ad hoc projects in this area, in addition to the funds available under the European Fisheries Fund. Further measures are planned to encourage the shift to energy-saving technologies, cushion the socioeconomic impact of the crisis, and facilitate the reprogramming and the disbursement of EFF funds.
The above measures will consist of temporary derogations to the rules of the European Fisheries Fund so as to support faster adaptation of the EU fleet to the present situation and provide temporary relief during the transitional phase.
I believe that these measures will help give an essential thrust to the industry to structurally adapt, whilst easing the transition for fishermen, vessel owners and people employed in support services during the period of adaptation. The Commission has engaged in very important and constructive discussion with the industry on this matter and the industry gives general support to our initiatives.
With regard to the official amendments that have been tabled by Parliament to the Commission proposal, we can accept the amendment referring to Recital 13 and, in fact, it should be applied to all vessels. However, the Commission cannot support the amendment to Article 18(2) as this would make the partial decommissioning measure virtually impossible to apply in practice.
Finally, and very importantly, let me express my belief that throughout this process we can give further impetus to the common fisheries policy, in particular in the context of resource sustainability.
I am aware of the very short deadline and that this leaves the European Parliament with little time to react. However, given the exceptional situation being faced by the fisheries sector, I trust I can count on the support of Parliament to adopt the said measures as speedily as possible.
As you are aware, yesterday the Commission adopted a proposal for a regulation containing key elements of the EU package of emergency measures to address the fuel crisis. Today I am seeking your agreement to this proposal.
Unfortunately it was impossible for the Commission to adopt its proposal on 3 July as had initially been planned. The reason for that is the depth of the analysis that had to go into the proposal, to guarantee that it is a really effective instrument to address the severe problems the sector is facing.
The Committee on Fisheries held a useful discussion this morning, for which I am thankful. A number of questions could be clarified and debated and I hope to be able to take the important and useful suggestions into consideration during negotiations in the Council next week. I am looking forward to more debate with you, now hoping that this can pave the way to your favourable opinion on our proposal in the vote tomorrow.
As I explained to you only three weeks ago, the fisheries sector is facing a crisis which is structural and long lasting. For many years, the EU fleet has suffered from a vicious circle of overcapacity, overfishing and declining profitability. At the same time, fishers have been unable to benefit from reduced supply and rising retail prices for fish products. As a result, profits are decreasing, making the sector more vulnerable than others to a drastic rise in costs, such as we have seen with the price of oil.
The Commission understands the need for coordinated action at EU level to avert a severe crisis for the industry and to ensure that the problem is really tackled head on. This means not only providing the possibility of emergency relief but committing to finally addressing the underlying issue of overcapacity, which is undermining all our attempts to get the industry back on a sustainable and profitable footing.
For these reasons, the Commission has proposed an emergency package of measures to tackle the immediate social and economic hardship triggered by the dramatic rise in the price of oil, while also tackling the underlying structural problems of the European fleet. I believe that it is vital to focus aid on the fleets which are most dependent on fuel and thus most affected by the current overcapacity.
We therefore propose that Member States can immediately grant temporary cessation aid as a lead-in measure to restructuring and that they can then set up Fleet Adaptation Schemes under which limitations on access to permanent cessation – scrapping – premiums will be lifted. Additional aid for temporary cessation, as well as modernisation and energy efficiency, would be available for vessels involved in such schemes. Partial decommissioning aid would be granted to operators who replace larger old vessels with smaller, more energy-efficient ones.
Based on further economic analyses, possible modifications to the
regime for fisheries may also be considered. We will, furthermore, propose provisions to allow for temporary reductions in employees’ contributions to social security payments."@en1
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