COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 3699/93 of 21 December 1993 laying down the criteria and arrangements regarding Community structural assistance in the fisheries and aquaculture sector and the processing and marketing of its products
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 43 thereof,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2080/93 of 20 July 1993 laying down provisions for implementing Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 as regards the financial instrument of fisheries guidance (1), and in particular Article 6 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (2),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (3),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (4),
Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 of 24 June 1988 on the tasks of the Structural Funds and their effectiveness and on coordination of their activities between themselves and with the operations of the European Investment Bank and the other existing financial instruments (5) and Council Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88 of 19 December 1988 laying down provisions for implementing the said Regulation (6), define the general objectives and tasks of the Structural Funds and the financial instrument for fisheries guidance, hereinafter referred to as the 'FIFG', their organization, the assistance methods, programming and general organization of the aid provided by the Funds and the general financial arrangements;
Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92 of 20 December 1992 establishing a Community system for fisheries and aquaculture (7) lays down the objectives and general rules of the common policy; whereas the development of the Community fishing fleet must in particular be restricted according to the decisions that the Council is called to take by virtue of Article 11; whereas it is for the Commission to translate these decisions into precise measures at the level of each Member State; whereas, furthermore, the provisions of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 of 12 October 1993 establishing a control system applicable to the common fisheries policy (8) must be respected;
Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 2080/93 defines the specific tasks of Community structural aid measures in the fisheries and aquaculture sector and the industry processing and marketing its products, hereinafter referred to as 'the sector'; whereas under Article 6 the Council must decide, no later than 31 December 1993, on the terms and conditions of the contribution of the FIFG to adaptation measures of the structures of the sector;
Whereas the Council must lay down detailed rules for the implementation of measures connected with the modification of the structures of the sector in order to ensure that FIFG assistance achieves the objectives assigned to the structural policy of the sector within the overall framework of Community structural assistance and the common fisheries policy as a whole, which comes under the exclusive competence of the Community, and so that each Member State is in a position to manage structural assistance in the sector; whereas, in so far as such assistance is not limited to the granting of Community aid, it is appropriate in particular to integrate, in a coherent manner, the programming of the restructuring of Community fishing fleets in the context of structural assistance as a whole,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Scope
The FIFG may, under the conditions laid down in this Regulation, provide assistance for the measures referred to in Titles II, III and IV, within the fields covered by the common fisheries policy as defined in Article 1 of Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92.
TITLE I PROGRAMMING
Article 2
General provisions
1. The measures referred to in Article 1 of this Regulation shall be the subject of a two-stage programming procedure under the conditions laid down in Article 3 and 4.
2. Provision for the restructuring of the Community's fishing fleets shall be made in multiannual guidance programmes, as referred to in Article 5.
Article 3
Sectoral plans and aid applications
1. Each Member State shall present to the Commission in the form of a single programme document, hereinafter referred to as 'the document':
- a sectoral plan,
- an aid application.
Each document shall cover a period of six years, the first programming period beginning on 1 January 1994.
For the part of the programme period covered by a multiannual guidance programme already approved by the Commission under Article 5 (2), the document shall be drawn up in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article.
For the remainder of the programme period not yet covered by a multiannual guidance programme approved by the Commission, the programme information given in the document shall be purely indicative; it shall be specified by Member States when the new multiannual guidance programme is approved, in accordance with its objectives.
Unless arrangements are made to the contrary with the Member States in question, documents covering the first programme period shall be submitted within three months of the entry into force of this Regulation; the documents covering subsequent programme periods shall be submitted at least six months before the start of each period.
2. Each sectoral plan may cover all of the fields referred to in Titles II, III and IV. It shall contain all the information specified in Annex I. It shall be drawn up in accordance with the objectives of the common fisheries policy and the provisions of the multiannual guidance programme referred to in Article 5.
Aid applications shall be drawn up in accordance with Article 14 (1) and (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88. They shall describe all the measures that are planned in order to give effect to common measures and shall specify the forms of assistance within the meaning of Article 5 of Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88.
3. The document shall draw a distinction between information relating to Objective 1 regions and information relating to other regions.
The information relating to Objective 1 regions shall be covered by the programming referred to in Article 8 (7) of Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 and Article 5 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88.
Article 4
Community programmes
1. The Commission shall examine the sectoral plans to determine whether they are consistent with the tasks of the FIFG as provided for in Article 1 of Regulation (EEC) No 2080/93 and with the provisions and policies referred to in Articles 6 and 7 of Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88.
Aid applications shall be examined in accordance with Article 14 (3) and (4) of Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88.
2. On the basis of the document referred to in Article 3 of this Regulation, within six months of receiving it, the Commission shall adopt a single decision on a Community programme for structural assistance in the sector.
The Commission's decision, taken in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 8 of Regulation (EEC) No 2080/93, shall be taken in the framework of the partnership referred to in Article 4 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 and in agreement with the Member State concerned.
The Commission's decision on a Community programme shall be communicated to the Member State concerned and published in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
3. Community programmes shall be drawn up in accordance with the objectives of the common fisheries policy and the provisions of the multiannual guidance programmes referred to in Article 5. They may in particular, to this end, be revised in the event of major changes and at the end of each programme period for the restructuring of the Community's fishing fleets.
Article 5
Multiannual guidance programmes for fishing fleets
1. For the purposes of this Regulation, a 'multiannual guidance programme for the fishing fleet' shall mean a series of objectives accompanied by a set of measures for their realization, allowing for management of fishing effort on a consistent, longer-term basis.
2. On the basis of multiannual objectives and measures for restructuring the fisheries sector as laid down by the Council pursuant to Article 11 of Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92, the Commission shall, acting in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 8 of Regulation (EEC) No 2080/93, adopt the multiannual guidance programmes for individual Member States.
3. The multiannual guidance programmes adopted for the period from 1 January 1993 to 31 December 1996, as referred to in Article 9 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2080/93, shall remain in effect until they expire.
4. By 1 January 1996 at the latest, Member States shall supply the Commission with the information specified in Annex II to this Regulation, to be used in drawing up multiannual guidance programmes for the period from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 1999.
Article 6
Monitoring multiannual guidance programmes
1. For the purpose of monitoring the implementation of multiannual guidance programmes, Member States shall transmit to the Commission, before 1 April each year, a document reviewing the progress made with their multiannual guidance programme. Within three months of this deadline the Commission shall forward an annual report to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of multiannual guidance programmes throughout the Community.
2. Member States shall transmit to the Commission information on the monitoring of fishing effort by fleet segment, particularly as regards the development of capacities and the corresponding fishing activities, in accordance with the procedures implemented by the Commission.
3. To this end the Commission shall operate a Community register of fishing vessels designed for use in managing fishing effort.
4. The Commission shall adopt the rules relating to the register referred to in paragraph 3 in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 18 of Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92.
5. At the request of the Member State concerned or the Commission, or pursuant to provisions laid down in the multiannual guidance programmes, any multiannual guidance programme which has been adopted may be re-examined and, if necessary, revised.
6. The Commission shall decide whether or not to approve the revisions provided for in paragraph 5 of this Article in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 18 of Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92.
7. For the implementation of this Article, Member States must comply in particular with Article 24 of Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93.
TITLE II IMPLEMENTATION OF MULTIANNUAL GUIDANCE PROGRAMMES FOR FISHING FLEETS
Article 7
Common provisions
1. At the end of a multiannual guidance programme, where, with regard to a given segment of a Member State's fleet, the reductions in capacity financed by official aid lead to overachievement of the objectives for that segment, the new situation brought about solely as a result of that aid may not be invoked to bring into service new capacity.
These provisions do not apply in the particular case of small local coastal fishing fleets made up of vessels of under 220 kW, for which fisheries quotas have not been set at Community level.
For such fleets, the Member State may finance, by State aids alone and within the limits of the premiums and ceilings of the official aids referred to in 1.3 and 2.1 of Annex IV, the capacities corresponding to this excess.
2. Each year, for each fleet segment, Member States shall ensure that aid for modernization and construction does not result in an increase in fishing effort.
Article 8
Adjustment of fishing effort
1. Member States shall take measures to adjust fishing effort to achieve at least the objectives of the multiannual guidance programmes referred to in Article 5.
Where necessary, Member States shall take measures to stop vessels' fishing activities permanently or restrict them.
2. Measures to stop vessels' fishing activities permanently may include:
- scrapping,
- permanent transfer to a third country, provided such transfer is not likely to infringe international law or affect the conservation and management of marine resources,
- permanent re-assignment of the vessel in question to uses other than fishing in Community waters.
For vessels of less than 25 gross registered tonnes (GRT) only the scrapping of the vessel may qualify for official aid within the meaning of this Article.
Member States shall ensure that vessels concerned by such measures are deleted from the registration lists for fishing vessels and from the Community fishing vessel register. They shall also ensure that deleted vessels are permanently excluded from fishing in Community waters.
3. Measures to restrict fishing activities may include restrictions on fishing days or days at sea authorized for a specific period. Such measures may not give rise to any State aid.
Article 9
Re-orientation of fishing activities - temporary joint ventures and joint enterprises
1. Member States may take measures to promote the re-orientation of fishing activities by encouraging the creation of temporary joint ventures and/or joint enterprises.
2. For the purposes of this Regulation 'temporary joint venture' means any association based on a contractual agreement of limited duration between Community shipowners and physical or legal persons in one or more third countries with which the Community maintains relations, with the aim of jointly fishing for and exploiting the fishery resources of the third country or countries and sharing the costs, profits or losses of the economic activity jointly undertaken, with a view to the priority supply of the Community market.
The contractual agreement shall provide for the catching and, where necessary, the processing and/or marketing of those species covered, the provision of know-how and/or the transfer of technology where linked to the said operations.
3. For the purposes of this Regulation 'joint enterprise' means any company regulated by private law comprising one or more Community shipowners and one or more partners in a third country, constituted in the framework of formal relations between the Community and the third country, with the aim of fishing for and possibly exploiting fishery resources in the waters under the sovereignty and/or jurisdiction of the third country, with a view to the priority supply of the Community market.
4. Where necessary the Commission, acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 8 of Regulation (EEC) No 2080/93, shall set conditions for implementing this Article.
Article 10
Fleet renewal and modernization of fishing vessels
1. Member States may take such measures to promote the construction of fishing vessels as comply with the global annual intermediate objectives and the final objectives by segment under their multiannual guidance programme within the stated time limits.
Member States shall, when forwarding any pertinent aid proposal, inform the Commission of provisions taken to ensure that this condition is complied with.
2. Member States may take measures to promote the modernization of fishing vessels. Such measures shall be subject to the conditions referred to in paragraph 1 where investments are likely to result in an increase in fishing effort.
The measures referred to in this paragraph may be taken under the conditions referred to in Article 9 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2080/93 for vessels regarding which the request for assistance within the meaning of Title III of Regulation (EEC) No 4028/86 has not been accepted despite its formal eligibility under the provisions of the latter Regulation.
TITLE III INVESTMENT AID IN THE FIELDS OF AQUACULTURE, THE DEVELOPMENT OF COASTAL WATERS, FISHING PORT FACILITIES AND PROCESSING AND MARKETING
Article 11
Scope
1. Member States may, under the conditions specified in Annex III, take measures to encourage capital investment in the following fields:
- aquaculture,
- protection and development of marine resources in coastal waters, in particular by the installation of fixed or movable facilities to enclose protected underwater areas,
- fishing port facilities,
- processing and marketing of fishery and aquaculture products.
2. In addition, Member States may take measures to encourage the devising and implementation of systems for the improvement and control of quality, hygiene conditions, statistical instruments and environmental impact, as well as research and training initiatives in enterprises. The relevant expenditure, with the exception of beneficiary enterprises' operating costs, may be funded from the FIFG, provided that it is directly linked to the investments referred to in paragraph 1.
TITLE IV OTHER MEASURES
Article 12
Measures to find and promote new market outlets
Member States may take measures in favour of finding and promoting new market outlets for fishery and aquaculture products, in particular:
- operations associated with quality certification and product labelling,
- promotion campaigns, including those highlighting quality issues,
- consumer surveys,
- projects to test consumer reactions,
- organization of and participation in trade fairs and exhibitions,
- organization of study and sales visits,
- market studies, including those relating to the prospects for marketing Community products in third countries, and surveys,
- campaigns improving marketing conditions,
- sales advice and aids, services provided to wholesalers and retailers.
The above measures must not be based around commercial brands nor make reference to particular countries or regions.
Article 13
Operations by members of the trade
Member States may take measures to promote operations carried out by members of the trade themselves and regarded by the competent authorities in the Member State as short-term operations of collective interest, provided such operations serve to attain the objectives of the common fishieries policy.
The measures referred to in this Article include in particular aid to producer organizations within the meaning of Article 7 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3759/92 of 17 December 1992 on the common organization of the market in fishery and aquaculture products (9).
Article 14
Temporary cessation of activities
Member States may take measures for the temporary cessation of activities.
FIFG assistance may be used only to finance measures intended to offset partially the loss of income suffered as a result of a temporary cessation of fishing activities caused by unforeseen and non-repetitive events resulting from biological phenomena in particular.
TITLE V GENERAL AND FINANCIAL PROVISIONS
Article 15
Compliance with the conditions governing assistance
1. Member States shall ensure that the special conditions governing assistance listed in Annex III to this Regulation are complied with.
2. When requesting payment of each annual aid instalment, Member States shall certify that compliance with the conditions governing assistance set out in this Regulation has been verified.
3. Where the conditions referred to in paragraph 2 have not been complied with, the Commission shall carry out a suitable examination of the circumstances in the framework of the partnership, in particular asking the Member State or the authorities appointed by it for implementation of the measure to submit their comments within a given period.
Following that examination, the Commission may suspend, reduce or cancel FIFG assistance in the area of assistance concerned as defined in point 1 of Annex I if the examination confirms that the conditions referred to in paragraph 2 have not been complied with.
Article 16
Scales and rates of assistance
1. The maximum amounts of assistance payable under this Regulation and the limits on financial participation from the Member States, beneficiaries and the Community are listed in Annex IV.
2. Within the scope of this Regulation, Member States may introduce supplementary aid measures subject to conditions or rules other than those laid down in this Regulation, or covering a sum in excess of the maximum amounts referred to in this Article, provided that they comply with Articles 92, 93 and 94 of the Treaty.
Article 17
Budget commitments
1. In the case of multiannual operations, Member States shall forward to the Commission each year the information required to permit commitment of the annual instalments provided for in Article 20 of Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88.
2. Budgetary resources shall be committed in line with the implementation stages set out in the decisions granting assistance.
3. Detailed rules for the application of this Article shall be adopted by the Commission in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 8 of Regulation (EEC) No 2080/93.
Article 18
Procedures for the payment of assistance
1. Financial assistance shall be paid in accordance with Article 21 of Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88 and in line with the implementation stages and financial provisions set out in the decision to grant assistance.
2. Applications for payment must be accompanied by documents providing evidence of the progress made in implementing the operation and any payments made by the Community and national authorities to the beneficiaries.
3. Detailed rules for the application of this Article shall be adopted by the Commission in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 8 of Regulation (EEC) No 2080/93.
Article 19
Entry into force
This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1994.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 21 December 1993.