WRITTEN QUESTION E-2050/99 by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Expenditure eligible for public aid in respect of construction of vessels with wooden hulls.
Date: 1999-11-03
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EC Regulation, Galicia, building materials, economic support, fishing fleet, shipbuilding

1.8.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 219 E/79

(2000/C 219 E/094)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2050/99

by Camilo Nogueira RomÆn (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(3 November 1999)

Subject: Expenditure eligible for public aid in respect of construction of vessels with wooden hulls

The shipwrights(cid:146) trade,
involving the construction of fishing boats with wooden hulls, is a traditional
industry in Galicia as in a number of other EU regions. This sector has modernised and remained dynamic,
competing with yards which build vessels with steel and glass fibre hulls. In Galicia, which is an Objective
1 area of the Structural Funds and is covered by the FIFG, of which small inshore fishing is an extremely
important element, there are currently 65 undertakings which construct vessels with wooden hulls and
supply a significant proportion of the national fleet, help to extend the country(cid:146)s market beyond its
borders and to maintain a high level of skilled workmanship.

The proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) laying down the detailed rules and arrangements regarding
Community structural assistance in the fisheries sector, of 21 January 1999 (COM(1998) 728 final (1)),
takes no account of the above considerations. Article 10(2), on public aid for fleet renewal and for vessel
modernisation, maintains the discrimination against vessels with wooden hulls since it states that
expenditure eligible for public aid in respect of construction of fishing vessels may not exceed the scales
set out in Table 1 in Annex IV, increased by 92,5 % for vessels with a hull in either steel or glass fibre, but
by only 37,5 % for vessels with wooden hulls.

Will the Commission indicate whether it plans to apply the same percentages to the different categories
and thus put an end to this unacceptable discrimination against the shipwrights(cid:146) trade?

(1) OJ C 16, 21.1.1999, p. 12.

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(22 December 1999)

At the meeting of the Council of Fisheries Ministers on 22 November 1999 the Regulation laying down
the detailed rules and arrangements regarding Community structural assistance in the fisheries sector was
the subject of a political agreement. It will be formally adopted as an (cid:145)A(cid:146) item at the Council meeting on
16 December 1999.

The new Regulation, which will enter into force on 1 January 2000, contains many innovations compared
to the Regulation in force until the end of 1999. In particular, the scale of costs eligible for public aid for
boat building will no longer depend on the material used.

Thus, all fishing vessels with the same tonnage, whether made of wood, metal or fibreglass, will be able to
receive the same amount of public aid for their construction.

The conditions laid down in the Regulation for the grant of public aid for building fishing vessels will of
course have to be complied with.

(2000/C 219 E/095)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2058/99

by Toine Manders (ELDR) to the Commission

(5 November 1999)

Subject: Draft directive on the protection of workers potentially at risk from explosive atmospheres

I note with some surprise the nature of the warning sign that is proposed under the above proposal for a
directive (COM(95) 0310) (1).