European Union fisheries ministers have agreed on a compromise aimed at trimming the size of the European Union's fishing fleet to conserve dwindling marine fish populations. It will force them to scrap 30 percent more vessels than they build if member states fail to adhere to a pre-agreed schedule of fleet restructuring. These limits vary annually but tend towards a reduction in vessel numbers.
Member states draw heavily on the community's structural funds to achieve the modernisation.
At issue in yesterday's ministerial meeting was the question of attaching conditions to the new package of structural funds until the current MAGP ends in 2001. To reduce fishing capacity, the European Commission had proposed that any new ship bought with EU funds should be accompanied by the scrapping of the equivalent of 1.3 ships. The proposal caused such division among member states that Monday's meeting was the fourth attempt by ministers to reach agreement. The UK and Denmark had argued for the funding to be linked to a 50 percent reduction in fleet size, while Italy and the Netherlands argued that no conditions should be attached to the EU money. Only countries that fail to stick to their MAGP limits will be subject to the 30 percent reduction figure in order to get EU funding.