WRITTEN QUESTION E-1898/99 by Raffaele Costa (PPE-DE) to the Commission. PESCA (1994-1999).
Date: 1999-10-29
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing arrangements, EU initiative, common fisheries policy

C 203 E/82

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.7.2000

What steps has the Commission take to review the killing methods used in commercial fishing in the light
of this scientific evidence and when will
it be making proposals to minimise the suffering which is
certainly being caused?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(23 November 1999)

Processes involved in fishing are rather different from those applied to domestic animals bred for food.
While the latter need specific slaughtering methods, and these are well covered by legislation, fishing
generally involves the direct killing of fish without any resort to specific slaughtering methods.

It is generally accepted, therefore, that there is very little room for cruelty against fish during the fishing
process.

The Commission is unaware of any behaviour of fishermen leading to unnecessary suffering of fish and
therefore has not taken any initiative in this area.

(2000/C 203 E/101)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1898/99

by Raffaele Costa (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(29 October 1999)

Subject: PESCA (1994-1999)

The Community budget allocated to the PESCA Community initiative for the restructuring of the fishery
sector for the period 1994-1999 amounts to ECU 36,5 million (equal to approximately LIT 70 billion).

Will the Commission state what agencies (public or private),
institutions, companies, cooperatives and
individuals have been allocated funding under PESCA (specifying whether payments have already been
made) and how much each of them has been granted?

Has it checked how the amounts have actually been used and whether the proposed measures have been
successfully implemented?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(23 November 1999)

The Community initiative (CI) PESCA in Italy benefits from a Community grant of € 37,8 million, from
the Financial instrument for fisheries guidance (FIFG), European regional development fund (ERDF) and
European social fund (ESF). Funds are split between creation of enterprise services centres (€ 11,9 million),
productive investments (€ 4,6 million), practical projects (€ 10,1 million), diversification of activities in
eligible zones (€ 9,9 million),
job creation (€ 0,7 million), financial engineering (€ 0,4 million) and
technical assistance (€ 0,2 million). According to the most recent information available, the engagements
of Community contribution to date correspond to 38 % of the total, and payments to 8 %.

Even if the programme was formally approved in May 1995, a number of organisational problems
deferred its start until very recently.

Most actions, as a matter of fact, have been engaged only at the end of 1998 or in 1999 by the national
authorities executing the plan. The administrations in charge of the implementation of CI PESCA are the
Italian Ministry of Agriculture and some regions.

Having regard to the low rate of implementation of measures under the programme, the Commission has
not so far undertaken on the spot inspections. A programme of inspections, however, is planned to take
place during the next weeks.