98/120/EC: Commission Decision of 16 December 1997 approving the multiannual guidance programme for the fishing fleet of Belgium for the period from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2001 (Only the French and Dutch texts are authentic)
Date: 1997-12-16
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Belgium, common fisheries policy, exchange of information, fishing controls, fishing fleet, terms for aid

12.2.98

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COMMISSION  DECISION

of  16  December  1997

approving  the  multiannual  guidance  programme  for  the  fishing  fleet  of  Belgium  for  the  period
from  1  January  1997  to  31  December  2001

(Only  the  French  and  Dutch  texts  are  authentic)

(98/120/EC)

THE  COMMISSION  OF  THE  EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES,

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European
Community,

Having  regard  to  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 (1)  as  last  amended  by
Regulation (EC) No 25/97 (2), and in particular Articles 5
and  6  thereof,

Having regard to Council Decision 97/413/EC of 26 June
1997  concerning  the  objectives  and  detailed  rules  for
restructuring  the  Community  fisheries  sector  for  the
period from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2001 with a
view  to  achieving  a  balance  on  a  sustainable  basis
between  resources  and  their  exploitation (3)  and 
in
particular  Article  9(1)  thereof,

Whereas  Decision  97/413/EC  was  adopted  pursuant  to
the provisions of Article 11 of Council Regulation (EEC)
No  3760/92  of  20  December  1992  establishing  a
Community  system  for  fisheries  and  aquaculture (4),  as
amended by the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and
Sweden;

Whereas  Belgium,  hereinafter  referred  to  as  ‘the  Member
State’, on 30 June 1997, in accordance with Article 6 (1)
of  Decision  97/413/EC,  submitted  to  the  Commission  a
fishing  effort  limitation  programme  for  the  period  from
1  January  1997  to  31  December  2001,  and  has
supplemented  this  programme  by  further  information  at
later  dates;  whereas  Article  9(1)  of  Decision  97/413/EC
provides 
the
multiannual  guidance  programmes  (MAGP)  for  the
fishing  fleets  of  individual  Member  States  no  later  than
30  November  1997;

the  Commission 

shall  adopt 

that 

Whereas Article 6(2) of Decision 97/413/EC provides that
capacity reductions shall be ensured by the establishment
in  each  Member  State  of  a  permanent  regime  to  control
fleet,  which  will  determine,
the 

renewal  of 

the 

(1) OJ  L  346,  31.12.1993,  p.  1.
(2) OJ  L  6,  10.1.1997,  p.  7.
(3) OJ  L  175,  3.7.1997,  p.  27.
(4) OJ  L  389,  31.12.1992,  p.  1.

segment  by  segment,  the  ratio  of  entries/exits  of  vessels;
whereas  the  programmes  submitted  by  Member  States
either contain no information on this issue whatsoever or
are  unsatisfactory;  whereas  Member  States  should
therefore  communicate  the  necessary  information  to  the
Commission  at  a  later  stage;

Whereas Article 7(1) of Decision 97/413/EC provides that
the  starting  point  for  the  objectives  fixed  for  the  fishing
fleets  for  31  December  2001  shall  be  the  fleet  objectives
fixed  by  the  previous  programme  for  31  December
1996;

Whereas  the  objectives  fixed  by  the  previous  programme
should be adjusted in cases where this is justified by new
information  supplied  by  the  Member  State  concerned;

Whereas, pursuant to Article 7(2) of Decision 97/413/EC,
the particular situation of the fleet of each Member State
concerned  must  be  taken  into  account  in  fixing  the
objectives  applicable  to  that  fleet;

in  particular
Whereas  Decision  97/413/EC,  and 
Article  9(1)  thereof,  requires  the  fixing  of  annual
intermediate  targets;  whereas  since  a  large  part  of  the
first  year  of  the  period  covered  by  the  programmes  will
have  elapsed  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  present
Decision  it  is  not  appropriate  to  set  an  intermediate
objective  for  1997;

Whereas, pursuant to Article 9(1) of Decision 97/413/EC,
the  Commission  shall  adopt  the  detailed  rules  for  the
implementation  of  that  Decision;  whereas  it  is  useful  to
clarify  certain  concepts;

for 

the 

calculating 

starting  point 

Whereas 
the
intermediate  and  final  fleet  objectives  under  MAGP  IV
are the fleet objectives fixed by the previous programmes
for  31  December  1996  (MAGP  III);  whereas  the  tonnage
objectives  set  by  MAGP  III  were  expressed  in  gross
registered  tonnes  (GRT),  but  the  MAGP  IV  objectives
must be expressed in units of gross tonnes (GT); whereas
not  all  Member  States  have  submitted  GT  values  for  all
fishing  vessels  of  the  fleet  concerned  notwithstanding
their  obligation  to  measure  or  estimate  the  GT  of  all
vessels  in  their  fleet,  and  to  transmit  this  information  to
the  Commission;

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12.2.98

Whereas,  in  those  circumstances,  the  Commission  must,
using  a  practical  approach,  estimate  the  missing  GT
values  in  order  to  provisionally  determine  that  Member
State’s MAGP IV intermediate and final objectives on the
basis  of  those  estimates;

Whereas  however  the  Commission  cannot  accept  any
claims  by  Member  States  that  fishing  effort  and/or
capacity  has  been  reduced  in  as  far  as  they  relate  to
vessels  for  which  the  Member  State  concerned  has  not
fulfilled its obligation to transmit at GT value or estimate
to  the  Commission,  since  the  exact  amount  of  that
reduction  is  not  verifiable;

Whereas,  in  the  absence  of  the  required  GT  tonnage
values  measured  or  estimated  in  accordance  with  the
provisions  of  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  2930/86  of
22  September  1986  defining  the  characteristics  of  fishing
vessels (1), as amended by Regulation (EC) No 3259/94 (2)
and  implemented  by  Commission  Decision  95/84/EC (3),
the  Commission  will  be  unable  to  verify  the  percentage
changes  in  the  fleet  capacity  or  fishing  effort  represented
by  changes  in  the  capacity  or  activity  of  individual
vessels, or by vessel entries or exits to and from the fleet;
whereas  the  Commission  will  therefore  have  to  assess
whether  the  fishing  effort  reductions  applied  to  vessels
for which the required GT values are available have been
sufficient  to  be  almost  certain  that  a  Member  State  has
reached  its  MAGP  IV  objectives;

Whereas,  since  the  starting  point  for  the  MAGP  IV
objectives  are  the  final  MAGP  III  objectives,  a  Member
State  cannot  be  deemed 
to  have  reached  either
intermediate  or  final  MAGP  IV  objectives  until  it  has
fulfilled its obligations under MAGP III, and in particular
the  obligation  to  reach  at  least  55 %  of  the  MAGP  III
obligations  by  reductions  in  capacity,

Whereas  the  measures  provided  for  in  this  Decision  are
in  accordance  with  the  opinion  of  the  Management
Committee  for  Fisheries  and  Aquaculture,

HAS  ADOPTED  THIS  DECISION:

Article  1

for 

the  period  1  January  1997 

The multiannual guidance programme for the fishing fleet
of  Belgium 
to
31  December  2001,  as  forwarded  on  30  June  1997  and
subsequently  supplemented,  is  hereby  approved,  subject
to  the  conditions  laid  down  in  this  Decision  and  the
Annex  thereto.

Article  2

The  Member  State  shall  ensure  that  any  reductions  in
capacity  or  fishing  effort  that  are  required  to  meet
the  final  objectives  of  the  programme  are  achieved
progressively.  To  this  end  intermediate  objectives  are  set
such  that  at  least  one  quarter  of  the  reductions  are
achieved  by  31  December  1998,  half  of  the  reductions
are achieved by 31 December 1999 and three-quarters of
the  reductions  are  achieved  by  31  December  2000.

In  order  to  ensure  that  the  final  and  intermediate
objectives  of  the  programme  will  be  met,  the  Member
State  shall  communicate  to  the  Commission  for  approval
the  regime  of  entries/exits  of  vessels  referred  to  in
Article  6(2)  of  Decision  97/413/EC.

Article  3

Whereas  the  segmentation  of  the  fleet  must  take  into
account  the  segmentation  adopted  by  the  previous
programme;

1.
The  following  units  shall  be  used  to  measure
whether  the  final  and  intermediate  MAGP  IV  objectives
have  been  met:

Whereas  in  accordance  with  Commission  Regulation
(EC)  No  109/94  of  19  January  1994  concerning  the
Community register of fishing vessels (4),  as  last  amended
by  Regulation  (EC)  No  493/96 (5),  each  Member  State
must  communicate  all  changes  to  the  situation  of  the
fishing  fleet  and  the  evolution  of  fishing  effort  by
fishery;

the  calculation  of 

Whereas 
the
programme  is  based  on  information  supplied  by  the
Member  State;  whereas  it  may  be  necessary  to  revise  the
objectives  if  this  information  is  later  found  to  have  been
inaccurate;

the  objectives  of 

(1) OJ  L  274,  25.9.1986,  p.  1.
(2) OJ  L  339,  29.12.1994,  p.  11.
(3) OJ  L  67,  25.3.1995,  p.  33.
(4) OJ  L  19,  22.1.1994,  p.  5.
(5) OJ  L  72,  21.3.1996,  p.  12.

(i)

the capacity of a vessel is measured both in terms of
its  tonnage  expressed  in  gross  tonnes  (GT)  and  in
terms of its power measured in kW according to the
provisions  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  2930/86;

(ii)

the fishing activity of a vessel is measured in days at
sea in accordance with Annex VI to Regulation (EC)
No  109/94;

(iii)

in  accordance  with  Annex  VI  to  Regulation  (EC)
No 109/94 the fishing effort of a vessel is measured
both as tonnage effort, defined as the product of its
activity  and  its  tonnage  expressed  in  GT,  and  as
power  effort,  defined  as  the  product  of  its  activity
and  its  power  expressed  in  kW.

2.
Active  and  passive  gears  correspond  to  the  lists  of
towed and static gears respectively in Annex I, Table 2 to
Regulation  (EC)  No  109/94,  with  the  exception  of  purse
seines  which  are  considered  to  be  active  gears  for  the
purposes  of  the  present  Decision.

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Fleet  segments  and,  if  applicable,  fisheries  are
3.
defined  as  shown  in  the  Annex  and  in  accordance  with
point  1  of  the  additional  provisions  thereof.

Article  4

1.
Until  such  time  as  a  Member  State  has  fulfilled  its
obligations pursuant to Regulation (EEC) No 2930/86 to
submit  a  measured  or  duly  estimated  GT  value  of  a
vessel,  for  the  purposes  of  MAGP  IV,  the  GT  of  that
vessel  shall  be  estimated  by  the  Commission  as  being
equivalent  to  the  tonnage  of  that  vessel  expressed  in
GRT.

2.
Any  fishing  effort  reduction,  including  capacity
reductions, claimed by a Member State shall not be taken
into account by the Commission unless the Member State
has  fulfilled  its  obligation  pursuant  to  Regulation  (EEC)
No  2930/86  to  furnish  the  Commission  with  the  GT
value  or  estimate  of  the  vessel  concerned.

3.
If a Member State has not transmitted all the values
or  estimates  of  GT  required  pursuant  to  Regulation
(EEC)  No  2930/86  necessary  in  order  to  determine
whether  that  Member  State  has  reached  an  intermediate
or final objective, the Commission will assess whether the
information  on  tonnage  that  has  been  supplied  to  it  is
nevertheless  sufficient  to  assume  that  the  Member  State
concerned  has  reached  that  objective.  If  the  Commission
concludes  that  this  is  the  case,  it  shall  consider  that  the
conditions  for  granting  modernisation  and  construction
in  Article  10  of  Regulation  (EC)
aid 
No  3699/93  have  been  fulfilled.

laid  down 

Article  5

As  long  as  a  Member  State  has  not  fulfilled  its  global
final  obligations  under  MAGP  III,  and  notably  the
obligation  to  achieve  at  least  55 %  of  the  reduction
objectives  under  MAGP  III  by  capacity  reductions,  it
shall  be  deemed  not 
its  global
intermediate  and/or  final  obligations  under  MAGP  IV.

to  have 

fulfilled 

Article  6

In  order  to  monitor  and  control  the  implementation  of
the programme, the Member States shall communicate all
changes  to  the  situation  of  the  fishing  fleet  and  the
evolution  of  fishing  effort  by  fishery  according  to  the
procedures  laid  down  in  Regulation  (EC)  No  109/94.

The  annual  communication  from  the  Commission  to  the
Council  and  to  the  European  Parliament  on  the  progress
of  the  MAGP  IV  provided  for  in  Article  6  of  Regulation
(EC)  No  3699/93,  shall  be  based  on  the  information
contained in the fishing vessel register of the Community
and  may  incorporate  additional  information  contained
in  the  reports  communicated  by  the  Member  States
in  accordance  with  Article  6  of  Regulation  (EC)
No  3699/93.

Article  7

The  objectives  of  the  programme  are  indicated  in  the
Annex.  These  objectives  may  be  revised  by 
the
Commission,  pursuant  to  the  procedure  laid  down  in
Article  18  of  Regulation  (EEC)  No  3760/92,  whenever
information  gathered  in  order  to  calculate  the  objectives,
notably  concerning  the  composition  of  the  catches  by
segment  or  by  fishery,  the  starting  levels  of  effort  and
the  GT  values  or  estimates,  is  found  to  have  been
inaccurate.

Article  8

This  Decision  is  addressed  to  the  Kingdom  of  Belgium.

It  shall  enter  into  force  from  1  January  1997.

Done  at  Brussels,  16  December  1997.

For  the  Commission

Emma  BONINO

Member  of  the  Commission

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12.2.98

ANNEX

MULTIANNUAL  GUIDANCE  PROGRAMME  FOR  THE  FISHING  FLEET  OF  BELGIUM  FOR  THE
PERIOD  1997  TO  2001

The  tables  specifying  the  applicable  reduction  objectives  can  be  found  at  the  end  of  this  Annex.

I.  TABLES  OF  OBJECTIVES

1.

Identification  of  segments  and  fisheries

II.  ADDITIONAL  PROVISIONS

Segments of the fleet are defined in accordance with Article 1(4) and 4 of Decision 97/413/EC. One or
more  fisheries  may  be  identified  within  segments  using  active  gears.

Objectives  fixed  in  terms  of  fishing  effort  by  fishery  are  valid  provided  that  the  measures  to  limit
fishing  effort  described  in  the  programme  submitted  pursuant  to  Article  6  of  Decision  97/413/EC,  as
approved  by  the  Commission,  are  respected.

The  objectives  fixed  must  be  attained  for  each  of  the  segments  and  where  applicable  for  each  of  the
fisheries  by  the  end  of  the  programme.

Each  segment  of  the  fleet  is  allocated  a  code  number  by  which  the  segment  to  which  any  vessel
belongs  is  recorded  in  the  fishing  vessel  register  of  the  Community.  All  changes  to  the  allocation  of
vessels  to  segments  must  be  communicated  according  to  the  procedures  of  Regulation  (EC)
No  109/94.

2.

Conversion  of  tonnage  objectives  from  units  of  GRT  to  units  of  GT

The  objectives  of  the  MAGP  III  fixed  for  31  December  1996  serve  as  the  starting  point  for  the
calculation  of  the  objectives  of  MAGP  IV.  The  tonnage  objectives  for  the  MAGP  III  are  converted
from units of gross registered tonnes (GRT) to units of GT by the application of the following formula
to  each  of  the  fleet  segments  or  applicable  subdivisions  of  the  fleet  segments  of  MAGP  III:

Objective  for  31  December  1996  (GT)  =
objective  for  31  December  1996  (GRT)

×

Situation  at  31  December  1996  (GT)

Situation  at  31  December  1996  (GRT)

where the situation at 31 December 1996 in GRT incorporates, where necessary, calculations made in
accordance  with  Commission  Decision  97/259/EC (1).

3.

Calculation  of  the  objectives

The  objectives  are  expressed  in  terms  of  tonnage  in  GT  and  power  as  defined  in  Regulation  (EEC)
No  2930/86  in  kW.

3.1. Objectives  by  segment

Where  a  segment  comprising  small  coastal  vessels  has  been  identified  in  accordance  with  Article  3  of
Decision  97/413/EC,  the  objectives  fixed  by  the  MAGP  IV  are  to  stabilise  capacity  at  its  level  at
1 January 1997 or, at the choice of the Member State, to limit capacity to a level corresponding to the
objectives  of  the  MAGP  III  for  this  segment.

The  capacity  objectives  for  31  December  2001  for  all  other  segments  are  calculated  by  applying  the
appropriate  reduction  rate  to  the  capacity  objectives  by  segment  for  31  December  1996  fixed  by  the
MAGP III. If the vessels in one or more segments of the MAGP III are redistributed into one or more
segments of the MAGP IV, the sum of the objectives for 31 December 1996 of the MAGP III segments
concerned  gives  the  sum  of  the  objectives  for  31  December  1996  of  the  new  MAGP  IV  segments  so
created.  The  objectives  of  the  MAGP  IV  segments  for  31  December  1996  are  calculated  by
partitioning  this  sum  among  the  MAGP  IV  segments  according  to  the  size  of  those  segments  at
31  December  1996.

(1) OJ  L  104,  22.4.1997,  p.  28.

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The  reduction  rate  applied  to  each  segment  is  calculated  according  to  the  method  described  in
Annex II to Decision 97/413/EC, in which the pilot reduction rate for the segment is multiplied by the
proportion  of  the  catch  in  weight  of  the  segment  that  is  made  up  of  critical  stocks.

3.2. Objectives  by  fishery

Where  distinct  fisheries  have  been  identified  in  one  or  more  segments,  and  where  the  programme  for
the  limitation  of  fishing  effort  in  each  of  these  fisheries  submitted  in  accordance  with  Article  6  of
Decision  97/413/EC  has  been  approved  by  the  Commission,  distinct  effort  reduction  rates  are
calculated  for  each  of  the  fisheries.  The  method  of  calculation  of  the  reduction  rate  in  each  fishery  is
identical  to  that  for  capacity  reductions  by  segment.

The  effort  objectives  by  fishery  are  calculated  by  applying  the  appropriate  reduction  rate  to  the
baseline  level  of  effort  for  that  fishery.  The  baseline  levels  of  effort  for  the  fisheries  in  a  segment  are
calculated  by  partitioning  the  effort  objective  for  the  segment  for  31  December  1996  among  the
fisheries.  The  effort  objective  for  the  segment  is  given  by  the  product  of  the  capacity  objective  of  the
segment  for  31  December  1996  and  mean  activity  of  vessels  in  the  segment  over  the  reference  period
agreed with the Commission. The proportion of the effort objective for the segment allocated to each
fishery  is  decided  by  the  Member  State  subject  to  approval  by  the  Commission,  and  is  fixed  for  the
duration  of  the  programme.

Without  prejudice  to  the  provisions  of  Articles  4  and  5  of  the  present  Decision,  the  intermediate
objectives  expressed  in  terms  of  fishing  effort  will  be  deemed  to  have  been  met  if  the  cumulative
fishing effort from the start of the programme to the date of the intermediate objective is equal to or
less  than  the  cumulative  fishing  effort  that  would  have  been  exerted  if  all  the  annual  intermediate
objectives  had  been  met  exactly.

Without  prejudice  to  the  provisions  of  Articles  4  and  5  of  the  present  Decision,  the  final  objectives
expressed  in  terms  of  fishing  effort  will  be  deemed  to  have  been  met  if  the  cumulative  fishing  effort
over  the  period  of  the  programme  is  equal  to  or  less  than  the  cumulative  fishing  effort  that  would
have  been  exerted  if  all  the  annual  objectives  had  been  met  exactly.

3.3. Authorised  adjustments  to  the  objectives

Member  States  may  at  any  time  submit  to  the  Commission  a  programme  of  safety  improvements.  In
accordance  with  Articles  3  and  4  of  Decision  97/413/EC  the  Commission  will  decide  whether  any
capacity increase foreseen by such a programme justifies a corresponding increase in the objectives of
the  MAGP  IV.

Where  a  Member  State  implements  technical  measures  that  result  in  a  reduction  in  the  by-catch  of
critical  stocks,  the  Commission  will,  at  the  request  of  that  Member  State,  determine  whether  these
measures  justify  a  revision  of  the  weighted  reduction  rates  applicable  to  the  segments  or  fisheries
concerned.

The Decisions of the Commission concerning the provisions of this paragraph will be taken according
to  the  procedures  of  Article  18  of  Regulation  (EEC)  No  3760/92.

3.4. Backlog  from  the  previous  programme

Where  the  objectives  for  31  December  1996  have  not  been  achieved,  the  backlog  in  a  given  segment
can be made up by a mixture of capacity and activity reductions, provided that a programme for the
reduction  of  effort  is  submitted  to  the  Commission  for  approval  in  accordance  with  Article  4  of
Regulation (EC) No 109/94 and provided that at least 55 % of the backlog for all segments combined
is  made  up  by  capacity  reductions.  The  reductions  in  activity  resulting  from  such  a  programme  have
been  taken  into  account  in  order  to  establish  the  baseline  activity  levels  for  MAGP  IV.

4.

Implementation  and  monitoring

The  implementation  of  the  measures  to  reduce  fishing  effort  for  certain  segments  of  fleet  require  that
evidence is given to the Commission by the Member State that the following are available for each of
the  segments  concerned:

— data  concerning  activity  levels  before  the  entry  into  force  of  the  measures,

— effective  tools  to  manage  time  at  sea,  and  an  ability  to  manage  fishing  licence  schemes,

— data making it possible to follow the effect of the measures implemented. These effects have to be
controllable  by  the  Commission,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  Council  Regulation  (EEC)
No  2847/93 (1)  relating  to  control.

(1) OJ  L  261,  20.10.1993,  p.  1.

Area

Stocks

Segment

Catch  composition

Pilot  rate

Weighted
reduction

Situation
1.1.1997

Objective
31.12.1996

Objective
31.12.2001

GT (*)

kW

GT (*)

kW

GT (*)

kW

EU  waters

Demersal  and  flatfish

Beam trawlers

EU  waters

Demersal  and  flatfish

Demersal  trawlers

DR:
OF:
Others:

35 %
12 %
53 %

DR:
OF:
Others:

45 %
7 %
48 %

Subtotal

Total

30 %

20 610

59 343

22 008

63 987

22 008

63 987

30 %

1 897

4 197

1 315

3 870

1 315

3 870

22 507

63 540

23 323

67 857

23 323

67 857

22 507

63 540

23 323

67 857

23 323

67 857

DR: Depletion  risk.
OF: Overfished.

(*) Includes  estimated  GT  values  in  accordance  with  Article  4  of  the  present  Decision.  The  objectives  will  be  revised  as  real  GT  values  become  available.

The  objectives  for  2001  are  equivalent  to  the  objectives  for  1996,  which  were  fixed  independently  of  the  rules  established  in  Commission  Decision  92/589/EEC.
They  take  account  of  the  modest  size  of  the  Belgian  fleet  and  that  a  minimal  global  capacity  must  be  safeguarded  to  prevent  it  falling  below  the  threshold  for  the  economic  viability  of  the  country’s  fishing  industry.

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