7.

Article 7 shall be amended as follows: (a) paragraph 1 shall be replaced by the following: ‘1. Member States shall take appropriate measures to comply with the relevant provisions of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002. Where necessary, this shall be achieved either by stopping fishing vessels' fishing activities permanently, in accordance with the applicable provisions of Annex III, or by restricting them or by a combination of both.’ (b) paragraph 3 shall be replaced by the following: ‘3. The permanent cessation of fishing vessels' fishing activities may be achieved by: (a) the scrapping of the vessel; (b) until 31 December 2004, permanent transfer of the vessel to a third country, including in the framework of a joint enterprise within the meaning of Article 8, after agreement by the competent authorities of the country concerned, provided all the following criteria are met: (i) there exists a fisheries agreement between the European Community and the third country of transfer as well as appropriate guarantees that international law is not likely to be infringed, in particular with respect to the conservation and management of marine resources or other objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy and with respect to working conditions of fishermen. Derogations may be granted by the Commission on a case by case basis for permanent transfers in the framework of joint enterprises to third countries, where Community interests do not justify the conclusion of a fisheries agreement and the other conditions for transfer would be fulfilled; (ii) the third country to which the vessel is to be transferred is not a country which is a candidate for accession; (iii) the transfer results in a reduction of fishing effort on the resources previously exploited by the vessel transferred; however, this criterion shall not apply when the vessel transferred has lost fishing possibilities under a fisheries agreement with the Community or under another agreement; (iv) if the third country to which the vessel is to be transferred is not a contracting or Cooperating Party to relevant regional fisheries organisations, that country has not been identified by such organisations as one which permits fishing in a manner which jeopardises the effectiveness of international conservation measures. The Commission shall publish a list of the countries concerned on a regular basis in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Communities; (c) permanent reassignment of fishing vessels for non-profitable purposes other than fishing.’ (c) paragraph 4 shall be deleted; (d) in paragraph 5, points (b), (c) and (d) shall be replaced by the following: ‘(b) premiums for permanent transfer within the framework of a joint enterprise: the amounts referred to in Article 8(3); however, no public aid for this purpose can be given for vessels with a tonnage less than 20 GRT or 22 GT, or of 30 years old or more; (c) premiums for other permanent transfer to a third country: the maximum amounts for the scrapping premiums referred to in (a), less 70 %. However, no public aid for this purpose may be given for vessels with a tonnage less than 20 GRT or 22 GT, or of 30 years old or more; (d) premiums for permanent reassignment of the fishing vessel for non-profitable purposes other than fishing: the amounts for the scrapping premiums referred to in (a).’ (e) paragraphs 6 and 7 shall be deleted;