COMMISSION REGULATION (EEC) No 1955/88 of 29 June 1988 laying down rules for the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 4028/86 as regards joint ventures in the fisheries sector

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), and in particular Articles 20 (4) and 21 (4) thereof,

Whereas applications for Community financial assistance must contain information enabling the Commission to take a decision thereon and must be submitted in standardized form;

Whereas payment applications to the Commission by the Member State(s) concerned must contain certain information permitting verification that the expenditure meets the requirements of Regulation (EEC) No 4028/86;

Whereas the purpose of aiding joint ventures is to stimulate initiatives of this type throughout the Community fishing industry; whereas it is therefore essential that Member States be informed of the results obtained by joint ventures;

Whereas, in order that proper checks may be made, Member States must keep at the Commission's disposal, for three years following the final payment, the documents on which the aid calculations were based;

Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee for the Fishing Industry,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

TITLE I Applications for cooperation premiums Article 1 1. Joint venture projects referred to in Article 19 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 4028/86 submitted to the Commission through the Member State(s) concerned must contain the particulars specified in Annex I to this Regulation and must be presented in the form shown in that Annex.

2. The projects referred to in paragraph 1 shall be submitted to the Commission in duplicate. Only one copy of supporting documents and documents other than the forms of the type shown in Annex I need be submitted.

3. Projects shall be recorded by the Commission on the day on which it receives them.

Article 2 For the purposes of this Regulation,

-the ´last port of fitting our' means the port in which the vessel finishes taking on gear and supplies and brings its crew up to strength,

-the ´commencement of fishing operations' means the day on which the vessel concerned or the first vessel of the fleet leaves the last port of fitting out,

-the ´completion of fishing operations' means the day on which the vessel concerned or the last vessel of the fleet returns to the last port of landing, provided that no activities other than those for which the joint venture was set up have occurred in the mean time,

-´duration of fishing operations', means the period between the beginning and the end of fishing operations.

Article 3 1. To qualify for a cooperation premium, the fishing operations planned under the joint venture must not commence until the project referred to in Article 1 has been recorded as received.

2. The premium referred to in Article 20 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 4028/86 shall be granted solely in respect of the duration of the fishing operations of the vessel or of each of the vessels involved in the joint venture. Such fishing operations must have a minimum duration of three consecutive months and the period of inactivity of the vessel(s) in question must not exceed 27 days per quarter, except in proven cases of force majeure.

TITLE II Rules applying to payment Article 4 1. Applications for payment shall be made to the Commission through the Member State(s) concerned. They must contain the particulars specified in Annex II and be presented in the form shown in that Annex.

2. The Member State(s) concerned shall certify that the information contained in the applications referred to in paragraph 1 is accurate.

Article 5 1. The cooperation premium shall be paid at the end of each three-month period. Applications for payment must reach the Commission within 45 days of the end of the period, except for the final application, which must arrive within two months of completion of the fishing operations and be accompanied by the final report on activities within the meaning of Title III.

2. Where a project stretches over two or more periods of three consecutive months, payment of the cooperation premium for each period shall be made only after the Commission has examined the periodic report(s) drawn up in accordance with Annex II. Should the Commission consider that the joint venture no longer meets the requirements of Regulation (EEC) No 4028/86 it may decide to discontinue the premium for the following period(s).

3. Such a decision shall be notified to the applicants and to the Member State(s) concerned.

Article 6 1. If the final period of a project lasting for more than one three-month period is less than three months, the cooperation premium for that period shall be proportionate to the number of days of activity of the vessel involved.

2. If a project provides for the use of a number of vessels, the quarterly periods will be calculated from the start of operations of the first vessel.

Payment requests for each quarterly period will relate to vessels having worked for the whole period and those having worked for a part of that period. In the latter case, the premium will be calculated pro rata to the number of days in activity.

TITLE III Final report on activities Article 7 1. A final report on activities must reach the Commission within two months of the completion of fishing operations.

2. The final report on activities must contain the pariculars specified in Annex III and be presented in the form shown in that Annex.

TITLE IV General and final provisions Article 8 In accordance with Article 46 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 4028/86, Member States shall specify in particular the criteria that they apply for the selection of projects and for the granting of their financial contribution, and their procedures for checking the applicants for the premium.

Article 9 Member States shall keep at the Commission's disposal, for a period of three years following the final payment, all documents, or certified copies thereof, used for calculation of the aid provided for in Regulation (EEC) No 4028/86, together with the complete files on the applicants.

Article 10 This Regulation shall enter into force on 4 July 1988.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 29 June 1988.

For the CommissionAntónio CARDOSO E CUNHAMember of the Commission (1)OJ No L 376, 31. 12. 1986, p. 7.