COMMISSION DECISION of 29 April 1992 on a transitional guidance programme for the fishing fleet (1992) of Belgium pursuant to Council Regulation (EEC) No 4028/86 (Only the Dutch and the French texts are authentic) (92/359/EEC)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 4028/86 of 18 December 1986 on Community measures to improve and adapt structures in the fisheries and aquaculture sector (1), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 3944/90 (2), and in particular Article 4 thereof,
Whereas, on 30 April 1991, the Government of Belgium forwarded to the Commission a multiannual guidance programme for the fishing fleet for the period 1992 to 1996, hereinafter referred to as 'the programme', as required by Article 3 (3) of Regulation (EEC) No 4028/86; whereas it forwarded at a later date additional information concerning the programme;
Whereas it is necessary to consider whether, having regard to the foreseeable trend in fishery resources, the market for fishery and aquaculture products, the measures adopted under the common fisheries policy and the guidelines for the latter, the programme fulfils the conditions laid down in Article 2 of Regulation (EEC) No 4028/86 and constitutes a suitable framework for Community and national financial aid for the sector concerned;
Whereas the objectives of the previous programme approved by Commission Decision 88/122/EEC (3), as amended by Decision 90/101/EEC (4), constitute the reference basis for assessing the actual development recorded and the effort still needed to ensure that the Community objectives are achieved;
Whereas the objectives of the guidance programme for 1991 have not been uniformiy achieved; whereas the current or likely situation as regards availability of fish in conjunction with the activities of the fleet concerned does not allow for any adjustment of the forecast on the basis of which these objectives were determined and approved; whereas the efforts made to adapt the fleet should therefore be sustained and strengthened over the period 1992 to 1996, in view of the fact that availability of certain species continues to deteriorate;
Whereas the scope of the planned modernization efforts implies a substantial improvement in the overall performance of the fleet concerned which should be taken into account when assessing the relationship to be achieved by the end of the programme period between fleet capacity and fish availability;
Whereas the development recorded should be monitored on a regular basis so as to improve or adjust the fishery support measures that accompany the implementation of the programme;
Whereas any development that does not comply with the programme objectives would run counter to the objectives of the common fisheries policy; whereas, therefore, certain specific measures undertaken under this programme may not warrant public financial assistance; whereas, in this context, approval of the programme should only be effective where the limitations and conditions upon which such approval was made conditional are complied with;
Whereas it is important that the overall reduction in fishing effort judged to be necessary in order to adapt the Community fleet to available resources should reflect significant reductions in particular segments of that fleet where an imbalance is most apparent; whereas there is insufficient information available at present to achieve comprehensive segmentation of the fleet in accordance with stocks and zones fished; whereas a broader range of parameters should therefore be developed to evaluate fishing effort as well as fleet capacity;
Whereas the Commission cannot approve programmes for the full period until adequate information is available to Member States to permit this new approach and additional time will be required to execute the work programme necessary to complete this process;
Whereas it is not appropriate to interrupt the process of reduction of the fleet inherent in the guidance programmes; whereas transitional programmes, for the period 1 January to 31 December 1992, should therefore be approved;
Whereas further reduction in fleet capacity is needed in view of the present state of the fish stocks; whereas available information indicates that a minimum reduction of 2 % expressed in tonnage and engine power, based on the objectives for the end of 1991, is necessary to compensate for technological progress; whereas in addition to that reduction, a certain percentage reduction is also necessary for catching-up, in the case of those Member States which have not reached the 1991 objectives;
Whereas the measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee for the Fishing Industry,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
A transitional guidance programme for the fishing fleet covering the period up to the end of 1992 is hereby approved subject to the limitations and conditions set out in this Decision and provided that those limitations and conditions are complied with.
Article 2
At the latest by the end of July 1992 and the end of February 1993, Belgium shall forward the Commission, in respect of each category of vessel defined in the programme, information on the number of vessels commissioned and withdrawn and on the tonnage and engine power added and withdrawn during the six-month period ending on the preceding 30 June or 31 December.
Article 3
The approval referred to in Article 1 shall only be effective where the development of the fleet complies with the objectives of the programme as set out in the Annex hereto.
Article 4
This Decision shall be without prejudice to any Community financial aid that may be granted to individual investment projects.
Article 5
This Decision is addressed to the Kingdom of Belgium.
Done at Brussels, 29 April 1992.