Council Regulation (EC) No 2370/2002 of 20 December 2002 establishing an emergency Community measure for scrapping fishing vessels
Date: 2002-12-20
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU aid, conservation of fish stocks, emergency aid, financial aid, fishing industry, fishing vessel

31.12.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 358/57

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 2370/2002

of 20 December 2002

establishing an emergency Community measure for scrapping fishing vessels

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu-
nity, and in particular Articles 36 and 37 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

Council Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 of 17 December
1999 laying down the detailed rules and arrangements
regarding Community structural assistance in the fish-
eries sector (3) has afforded decommissioning incentives
as a way of bringing about a balanced ratio of fleet capa-
city to available resources in the long term.

Several stocks of major importance to Community fish-
eries are now seriously depleted. The owners of fishing
vessels whose fishing opportunities have been severely
reduced as a result of a recovery plan adopted by the
Council should therefore be offered additional decom-
missioning incentives on top of those already provided
for in Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999. Sufficient addi-
tional funds should be made available to Member States
for this purpose.

Only those vessel owners who are severely affected by a
recovery plan should be afforded access to additional
decommissioning incentives for the scrapping of fishing
vessels defined by this Regulation. A reduction of 25 %
or more in the fishing opportunities of
the vessel
concerned should be regarded as an objective indicator
of severe impact.

The maximum amounts for the scrapping premiums laid
down in Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 are
insufficient to enable the higher premiums to be paid.

conservation reasons

For
the Community measure
should be established as soon as possible and should be
limited in time to ensure that suitable restructuring of
the fleet can proceed without delay.

It is necessary to ensure adequate flexibility of the distri-
bution of the additional scrapping funds to allow them
to be directed to those Member States most in need.

The roles of all parties involved in the implementation
of the financial measure should be clearly defined and
steps taken to guarantee the transparency and equity of
the procedures for the management and monitoring of
the measure.

(8)

(9)

(10)

Rules on the financial contributions made under this
Regulation should be defined by reference to those laid
down in Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999.

The measures necessary for the implementation of this
Regulation should be adopted in accordance with
Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying
down the procedures for the exercise of implementing
powers conferred on the Commission (4).

It is necessary and appropriate for the achievement of
the basic objective of this Regulation, namely the conser-
vation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources,
to lay down rules on the scrapping of fishing vessels. In
accordance with the principle of proportionality as set
out in Article 5 of the Treaty, this Regulation does not
go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that
objective,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

TITLE I

SUBJECT MATTER AND ELIGIBILITY

Article 1

Subject matter

An emergency Community measure to assist Member States to
achieve additional reductions in fishing effort resulting from
recovery plans adopted by the Council is hereby instituted for
the period from 2003 to 2006. The measure shall consist of a
special incentive to provide Member States with funds to co-
finance their additional needs to scrap fishing vessels affected
by recovery plans.

Article 2

Eligibility

Any fishing vessel covered by a recovery plan adopted by the
Council shall be eligible for an increased scrapping premium in
accordance with Article 3 provided that:

(a) the fishing vessel is also eligible for scrapping premiums

under Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999,

and

(1) OJ C 227 E, 24.9.2002, p. 333.
(2) Opinion delivered on 5 December 2002 (not yet published in the

Official Journal).

(b) its fishing effort has had to be reduced by 25 % or more as

a consequence of a recovery plan.

(3) OJ L 337, 30.12.1999, p. 10. Regulation as last amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 179/2002 (OJ L 31, 1.2.2002, p. 25).

(4) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

L 358/58

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

31.12.2002

Article 3

Maximum amount of increased scrapping premium

Owners of fishing vessels may be granted public aid in respect
of eligible fishing vessels within the meaning of Article 2 on
the basis of the scales referred to in point (a) of Article 7(5) of
Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999, increased by 20 %.

TITLE II

YEAR 2003

Article 4

Financial contribution from the Community

The Community may grant Member States, for the year 2003,
a financial contribution (hereinafter ‘financial contribution’) for
their expenditure incurred under Article 3. The financial contri-
bution shall be calculated in accordance with the rates set out
in Table 3, Group 1 of Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 2792/
1999.

Article 5

Forecast programmes of annual expenditure

Member States wishing to receive a financial contribution shall
present to the Commission by 30 June 2003 a plan of their
proposed decommissioning expenditure for the year 2003,
under this emergency Community measure. The Commission
shall proceed with the commitment of
the global annual
amount available in the budget for this emergency Community
measure.

Article 6

Procedure

1. Member States shall submit
their applications for the
payment of the expenditure by 30 June 2004. On the basis of
the applications, and the situation of each Member State in
respect of the impact of recovery plans, the Commission shall
decide on the financial contribution to be paid to each Member
State. The Commission shall pay up to 50 % of the assistance
on receipt of the application and the balance after certification
by the authorities referred to in paragraph 2.

The authorities responsible for the implementation of this
2.
emergency Community measure shall be the managing and
paying authorities
fund measures
concerning fisheries in the relevant Member State. They shall
perform the functions assigned to them by Council Regulation
(EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999 laying down general
provisions on the structural funds (1).

involved in structural

Except in the case of contrary provisions arising form this
3.
Regulation,
the relevant provisions of Regulation (EC) No
1260/1999, in particular Articles 33 to 39, as well as derived
legislation, shall apply.

TITLE III

PERIOD 2004-2006

Article 7

For the period 2004-2006 the necessary funds for financing
the emergency Community measure for scrapping fishing
vessels shall be made available by reprogramming of the Struc-
tural Funds provided for in Articles 41 and 44 of Regulation
(EC) No 1260/1999 and be programmed within the existing
Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance programmes.

TITLE IV

IMPLEMENTATION AND ENTRY INTO FORCE

Article 8

Implementation

The detailed rules for the implementation of this Regulation
shall be adopted by the Commission in accordance with the
procedure laid down in Article 30(2) of Council Regulation
(EC) No 2371/2002 of 20 December 2002 on the conservation
and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the
Common Fisheries Policy (2).

Article 9

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 2003.

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

Done at Brussels, 20 December 2002.

For the Council

The President

M. FISCHER BOEL

(1) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation

(EC) No 1447/2001 (OJ L 198, 21.7.2001, p. 1).

(2) See page 59 of this Official Journal.