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Summary information on Wijziging van de Vergoedingsregeling voor uittreding van vissers uit de visserij 2002 [amendment of the 2002 compensation scheme for fishermen giving up fishing], communicated in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No 1595/2004 of 8 September 2004 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to State aid to small and medium-sized enterprises active in the production, processing and marketing of fisheries products (OJ L 291, 14.9.2004)

(2006/C 130/02)

(Text with EEA relevance)

Explanatory notes: Council Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 of 17 December 1999 laying down the detailed rules and arrangements regarding Community structural assistance in the fisheries sector (OJ L 337, 30.12.1999), the FIFG Regulation, provides for socioeconomic measures to be taken. Inter alia as a result of recent restructuring (in September 2005), there is a need to take such measures.

The amendment of the 2002 compensation scheme for fishermen giving up fishing is fully in accordance with Article 12 of the FIFG Regulation, both as regards the conditions and as regards the level of the assistance to be granted.

The Netherlands is divided into two areas: Flevoland — an Objective 1 region — and the rest of the country. Located within Flevoland is the municipality of Urk, a major home port for fishing vessels. Since Flevoland's FIFG budget for social welfare measures for fishing-vessel crew members has already been used up, there is no funding left for part-financing social welfare measures in this Objective 1 region. The assistance for crew members living in Urk will therefore not be part-financed by the FIFG, but will instead be financed entirely from national resources.

The 2002 compensation scheme for fishermen giving up fishing is a national scheme open to both fishermen from Urk and those from elsewhere. The scheme's total budget comprises EUR 1,8 million. This State-aid notification relates only to assistance granted to fishermen living in Urk, however.

The compensation scheme complies not only with Article 12 of the FIFG Regulation, but also with the other conditions contained in Regulation (EC) No 1595/2004. The scheme applies to small and medium-sized enterprises and the aid will not exceed EUR 1 million a year per beneficiary.

It should also be pointed out that the 2002 compensation scheme for fishermen giving up fishing was notified as an aid measure (N 87/2002). The aid measure in question here is merely given shape by amending the above-mentioned scheme, but constitutes a new aid measure.

Member State: Netherlands

Aid No: XF 2/2006

Region: Flevoland Province, within which Urk is a major home port for fishing vessels

Title of the aid scheme: Wijziging van de Vergoedingsregeling voor uittreding van vissers uit de visserij 2002 [amendment of the 2002 compensation scheme for fishermen giving up fishing], whereby this notification relates only to assistance for crew members of fishing vessels the home port of which is Urk.

Legal basis: Regeling van de Minister van Landbouw, Natuur en Voedselkwaliteit van 10 februari 2006, TRCJZ/2005/3704, houdende wijziging van de Vergoedingsregeling voor uittreding van vissers uit de visserij 2002, Stcrt. 2006, 37

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme: The total amount available for the whole of the Netherlands for social welfare measures for fishermen giving up fishing is EUR 1 800 000. The amount required for social welfare measures for crew members of fishing vessels the home port of which is Urk depends on the number of fishermen from Urk who submit their application before the assistance limit of EUR 1 800 000 is reached.

Maximum aid intensity: Fishermen giving up fishing early: a maximum of EUR 500 for each calendar month during the period beginning on the first day of the month in which the employment contract or partnership agreement is terminated and ending on the first day of the month in which the age of 65 years is reached.

This applies to persons who, as at 1 January 2006, had reached at least 56 but not yet 65 years of age.

One-off payment if the fisherman ceases his professional activity because the vessel on which he worked has been scrapped: EUR 5 000.

The fisherman may not be over 55 years of age.

One-off assistance for a fisherman to retrain after ceasing his professional activity because the vessel on which he worked has been scrapped: equal to the actual costs of attending the retraining course, up to a maximum of EUR 7 500.

The fisherman may not be over 55 years of age

Date of implementation: From 1 March 2006

Duration of the scheme or individual aid: Up to and including July 2008

Objective of the aid: Based on the amendment of the 2002 compensation scheme for fishermen giving up fishing, assistance can be granted to fishermen who cease their professional activity in sea fisheries.

That cessation may be because the vessel on which the fisherman worked has been scrapped. In September 2005 the 2005 sea fishing capacity reduction scheme became available, under which fishing-vessel owners could apply for assistance if they definitively gave up fishing. Such scrapping will always result in the crew members of the fishing vessel concerned losing their jobs. The purpose of the scheme is to provide these fishermen with financial assistance because of their resultant loss of income.

A fisherman may also be eligible for assistance if he gives up fishing early without the vessel on which he worked having been scrapped.

A fisherman who has become unemployed as a result of the abovementioned restructuring may also choose to apply for assistance in order to retrain for work in economic sectors other than sea fishing.

All the measures contribute towards restructuring the fleet.

State which of Articles 4 to 12 inclusive applies and the costs eligible for the scheme or individual aid: 

Article 12

Socioeconomic measures: Aid for fishermen who give up fishing early and flat-rate individual premiums which comply with Article 12(1), (2), (3)(a), (b) and (c), and (4)(a) to (e) of Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 and with Annex III thereto are compatible with the common market within the meaning of Article 87(3)(c) and exempt from the notification requirement in Article 88(3) of the EC Treaty, provided that the aid amount — converted into assistance equivalent — does not exceed the total national and Community assistance stipulated for such aid in Annex IV to that Regulation.

The maximum eligible costs concerned comprise EUR 1 800 000. The proportion of this for applicants from Urk depends on the number who apply before the assistance limit is reached

Sector(s) concerned: Sea fisheries

Name and address of the granting authority: 

Website: www.hetlnvloket.nl

then use the search function

Further information: 

Contact at the Permanent Representative's Office

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