G/SCM/Q2/EU/33  
 
29 April 2014  
(14-2616)  Page: 1/3  
Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures  Original: English  
 
 SUBSIDIES 
REPLIES TO QUESTIONS POSED BY NEW ZEALAND1 REGARDING THE NEW 
AND FULL NOTIFICATION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION2 
The following communication, dated 28 April 2014, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the European Union.  
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  Q.1 European Fisheries Fund (EFF)  
 
With regard to this [EFF] programme, can the European Union:   
 Identify the fisheries affected by the programme, by geographical area (e.g. 
territorial sea, EEZ, high seas), and the species affected by the programme (e.g. 
both target and by catch species) 
 
 Clarify the current status of the programm e, how long it is anticipated that the 
programme will be in place, and how the budget will change over the life of the 
programme? 
 
 Comment on the extent to which the programme provides support for the 
reduction of overcapacity and overfishing. 
 
Reply 
 
Concerning the first question , the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) is the European Union’s public, 
structural support instrument for the fisheries sector for the period 1 January 2007 – 31 December 2013. The aim of the EFF is to help the sector attain the objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). It includes a range of measures that can receive EFF support. It is up to the 
Member States to select the projects that will receive that support. In that respect, at the start of 
the programming period, each MS was asked to iden tify its priorities and to spell them out in a 
national strategic plan. That plan served as the basis for drawing out an operational programme, 
in which the MS set out in concrete terms how it planned to use its share of the EFF during the 
7 years of the programming period.  
The national strategic plan, the operational programme, and any modification of the operational 
programme over the years, were discussed with the European Commission which ensured consistency with the CFP objectives. Support for co ncrete projects is co-financed by the EFF and 
national public resources within aid intensity limits set up in the EFF and which depend on the type 
of measure. 
 The scope of the EFF is the same as that of the CFP. It extends to the conservation, management 
and exploitation of living aquatic resources and aquaculture, as well as to the processing and 
marketing of fisheries and aquaculture products in so far as those activities are practised on the territory of MS, in EU waters or by EU’s fishing vessels or nationals of MS within and beyond EU 
waters, irrespective of species or stocks. 
                                               
1 G/SCM/Q2/EU/28. 
2 G/SCM/N/253/EU; G/SCM/N/253/EU/Add.20; G/SCM/N/253/EU/Add.21; G/SCM/N/253/EU/Add.25. G/SCM/Q2/EU/33 
 
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Concerning the second question , the financial envelope of the EFF for its period of validity was 
fixed at the time of its entry into force. Alth ough the programming period for the EFF ended on 
31 December 2013, unspent resources can still be used until 31 December 2015. 
 
For the 2014-2020 period, the EFF has been replaced by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). The EMFF will support the implementation of  the recently adopted reform of the CFP, in 
particular the rebuilding of fish stocks, reducing the impact of fisheries on the marine environment, 
and the progressive elimination of wasteful discarding practices. It will increase investment into small scale fisheries and aquaculture as sources for future growth and will support the improvement of fisheries data collection to allow decisions to be based on robust evidence. The 
fund will also increase EU support to fisheries control programmes to ensure that the rules on 
responsible and sustainable fishing are respected and complied with.  
Regarding the third question , one of the main objectives of structural support in the EU is to 
adapt fishing capacity to resources. This has been  achieved through the gradual reduction of  the 
EU fishing fleet (by more than 25% since 2000) through the scrapping of fishing vessels. Between 
2007 and 2013, approximately €840 million of pub lic support (€475 million from the European 
Fisheries Fund and €365 million of national public money) has been committed to scrap approximately 4,000 fishing vessels. The scrapping of fishing vessels is only one way in adapting fishing capacity to resources. Other policy tools that can be more effective are regulatory 
restrictions (e.g. through quota and effort ma nagement in the context of recovery and/or 
management plans). It is clear that from a policy perspective, the combination of structural and conservation tools appears to be necessary to maximize the impact on overcapacity. 
 
Q.2 European Union – Member State notifications  
We note that the notifications made by a num ber of individual Member States of the EU 
appear to include programmes provided with E FF support (e.g. the notification of Spain, 
G/SCM/N/253/EU/Add.25), others include programmes which, presumably, are not also covered by EFF support (e.g. the notifi cation of Poland, G/SCM/N/253/EU/Add.20), 
while others do not include any fisheries-re lated subsidies (e.g. the notification of 
Portugal, G/SCM/N/253/EU/Add.21).  It would be  appreciated if the EU could clarify the 
status of Member State notifications in relation to the EFF notification. 
 
Reply 
 
The European Commission is in the process of co-ordinating with the Member States in order to 
provide an answer to this question. A written reply will be provided once all the information has been received.   
Q.3 European Union – Poland 
Programme of development of th e fisheries sector in Poland   
 
With regard to this programme, can the European Union: 
 
 Identify the fisheries affected by the programme, by geographical area (e.g. 
territorial sea, EEZ, high seas), and the species affected by the programme (e.g. 
both target and by catch species) 
 Clarify the current status of the programm e, how long it is anticipated that the 
programme will be in place, and how the budget will change over the life of the 
programme? 
 Reply 
 The program was foreseen for the years 2000 – 2006. In the fact it was terminated by the 30 April 2004. In 2011 and 2012 only surcharges to th e interest rates of bank's credits granted by 
the end of April 2004 were paid.  
 In the period of 2011- 2012 there were no new credits granted.   G/SCM/Q2/EU/33 
 
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  Only surcharges to the interest rates of bank's credits granted before May 2004 were paid. In the 
period mentioned the value of surcharges reached 4 304,83 PLN (4 304,83 PLN in 2011 and 0 PLN in 2012).   
 
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