WRITTEN QUESTION E-1058/02 by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Support for small-scale fisheries and small-scale coastal fishing.
Date: 2002-04-17
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU expenditure, FIFG, common fisheries policy, inshore fishing, sectoral aid, traditional fishing

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 301 E/83

distributing a brochure and the texts of the proposals by direct mail and via the networks concerned,
and making them rapidly available on the special pages created on the CFP website; distributing press
notices and explanatory notes, and disseminating them via the Internet; distributing explanatory
audiovisual material, including via the Europe by Satellite (EbS) service;

(cid:1) organising briefings for the media, the fishing industry and the other groups concerned in the
Member States, so that they can put questions on the reform proposals directly to Commission
representatives;

(cid:1) distributing a special

issue (comprising 15 000 copies in the 11 official

languages) of the CFP

magazine ‘Fishing in Europe’, devoted to the reform proposals;

(cid:1) organising an Internet chat so that European citizens and anyone else concerned can discuss the CFP

reform with the Commission Member responsible for agriculture and fisheries.

For 2002, budget heading B2-903 has been allocated EUR 1 513 million:

(cid:1) EUR 400 000 will be devoted to reinforcing European trade associations in preparation for the ACFA’s
work; EUR 1 113 000 have been earmarked for the communication and information initiatives.

(cid:1) A further EUR 117 000 have been allocated to heading B-903A for organising meetings of experts (cid:1)
in particular regional workshops bringing together representatives from the fishing industry, the
scientific world and the authorities in the Member States concerned to discuss specific questions
relating to certain fisheries.

(cid:1) To date, 2002 commitments comprise EUR 1 338 000 for heading B2-903 and EUR 113 000 for
heading B2-903A. As a guide, the heading’s 2001 commitments comprised EUR 1 009 000 from an
available total of EUR 1.1 million.

Since the initiatives are carried out at European level, the amounts used to implement them are not broken
down by Member State.

(2002/C 301 E/089)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1058/02

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(17 April 2002)

Subject: Support for small-scale fisheries and small-scale coastal fishing

At the European Parliament’s instigation a specific initiative to support small-scale fisheries and small-scale
coastal fishing was entered in the Community budget (heading B2-909, former heading B2-910). The
heading is being phased out and is due to be discontinued in 2003. The European Parliament and, in
particular, its Committee on Fisheries have always attached particular importance to this policy aspect and
to ensuring that it occupies a prominent position in the budget, in view of its socio-economic importance
and the specific problems which it is intended to address. In its resolution of 17 January 2002 on the
revision of the common fisheries policy, Parliament called for a specific Community initiative to be devised
for the purpose of supporting small-scale fisheries and small-scale coastal fishing. The Commission has also
acknowledged the importance of this section of the fishing fleet in its Green Paper on the future of the
common fisheries policy, and it argues that such support has been provided under FIFG structural
operations.

How much money has actually been spent on each type of project and in each Member State since the
start of the current initiative to support small-scale fisheries and small-scale coastal fishing (heading
B2-909, former heading B2-910)? What does the Commission think of the parallel support being provided
under the FIFG?

How much money has actually been spent (and how has it been divided up) under the FIFG for the
purpose of supporting small-scale fisheries and small-scale coastal fishing?

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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5.12.2002

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(3 June 2002)

Amount actually spent under the support initiative for small-scale coastal fishing (B2-909) overall, by

1.
type of project, and breakdown by Member State.

The total amount actually spent under heading B2-909 is EUR 4 763 000. The breakdown by Member State
is given in Table 1.

Table 1
Total amount spent under heading B2-909
on small-scale coastal fishing projects 1997-2000

Countries

Number of projects

Total amount spent

(EUR million)

Belgium

Denmark

Greece

Spain

France

Ireland

Italy

Portugal

Finland

Sweden

United Kingdom

1

2

8

14

5

3

9

3

2

1

5

Total

53

0,189

0,267

1,167

1,209

0,484

0,335

0,511

0,036

0,168

0,112

0,284

4,763

Amount actually devoted to aid for small-scale coastal fishing and small-scale fisheries under the

2.
Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG) and its breakdown.

The FIFG’s financial plan for 2000-2006 includes a budget of EUR 50 127 000 for ‘small-scale coastal
fishing’. The breakdown by Member State is given in Table 2.

Table 2
Small-scale coastal fishing (FIFG 2000-2006)

(EUR million)

Countries

Belgium

Denmark

Germany

Greece

Spain

France

Ireland

Italy

Netherlands

Austria

Amount

0,150

1,400

2,400

0,462

25,767

1,500

0

11,070

0

0

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Countries

Portugal

Finland

Sweden

United Kingdom

Amount

3,401

0,700

2,500

1,137

Total

50,127

Complementarity of small-scale coastal fishing projects (heading B2-909) with those financed by the

3.
FIFG.

The specific operation in favour of small-scale coastal
Parliament’s initiative in 1997,
Regulation contained no specific measures for small-scale coastal fishing.

fishing was launched as a pilot action on
i.e. during the 1994-1999 programming period, for which the FIFG

The Commission, recognising the importance of this particular segment of the European fleet and the
difficulties facing it, subsequently included specific measures in support of small-scale coastal fishing in the
present 2000-2006 programming.

The amounts and the possibilities offered for small-scale coastal fishing by the FIFG have been greatly
enlarged and consist notably of:

(cid:1) a specific measure for small-scale coastal fishing, for which the Member States have programmed a

total amount of EUR 50 127 000 (see Table 2);

(cid:1) access to measures not specifically intended for small-scale coastal fishing but from which it can
benefit such as fleet renewal, fishing vessel modernisation, adjustment of fishing effort and also
collective projects by professionals and socio-economic measures;

(cid:1) lastly the fleet renewal rules are relaxed for small-scale coastal fishing.

The Commission is about to evaluate the ‘small-scale coastal fishing’
initiative. Its conclusions will be
subsumed into a comprehensive review exercise on the future of the structural policy for fisheries after
2006.

(2002/C 301 E/090)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1071/02

by Glenys Kinnock (PSE) to the Commission

(17 April 2002)

Subject: Fisheries agreements in the Pacific

Would the Commission outline how it intends to ensure consistency between the EU’s development
objectives and the fisheries agreement currently being negotiated with Kiribati?

How does the Commission imagine that fisheries agreements will contribute to the reduction of poverty in
the Pacific?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(29 May 2002)

Any future Community/Kiribati fishery agreement will ensure that the activity of Community vessels is
compatible with the long-term sustainability of tuna fishery in the Pacific region, as well as with all
technical fishing and conservation rules applicable in the region.