Council Regulation (EC) No 1421/2004 of 19 July 2004 amending Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 laying down the detailed rules and arrangements regarding Community structural assistance in the fisheries sector
Date: 2004-07-19
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: FIFG, aquaculture, common fisheries policy, conservation of fish stocks, fishery management, fishing fleet, structural policy

6.8.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 260/1

I

(Acts whose publication is obligatory)

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1421/2004

of 19 July 2004

amending Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 laying down the detailed rules and arrangements regarding
Community structural assistance in the fisheries sector

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

of European aquaculture. The implementation of
the
strategy involves the need to amend Regulation (EC)
No 2792/1999.

Having regard to the Treaty
Community, and in particular Articles 36 and 37 thereof,

establishing the European

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (1),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 (2) lays down provisions
relating to the protection and development of aquatic
resources and to the development of the Community
aquaculture sector.

Community legislation establishes
the possibility of
supplementary aid for scrapping when a recovery plan
is applicable.
In such a case, or where emergency
measures adopted by the Commission or Member
States are liable to have similar effects, aid for crew
members who are forced to give up fishing owing to
the plan or the measures should also be increased. The
same should be applicable to crew members who lose
their jobs, without the vessel being scrapped, owing to
the adoption of a recovery plan or emergency measures.

(3)

The Commission issued on 19 September 2002 a
communication to the European Parliament and the
Council on a strategy for the sustainable development

(1) Opinion delivered on 1 April 2004 (not yet published in the Official

Journal).

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

lation (EC) No 639/2004 (OJ L 102, 7.4.2004, p. 9).

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

The protection and development of aquatic resources do
not exclusively concern measures taken at sea, but also,
and in particular
for anadromous and catadromous
species in inland waters. In this respect, the rehabilitation
and re-opening of migration routes and spawning areas
is of particular importance.

Any increase in production in excess of
the likely
evolution in demand should not be encouraged. Better
marketing strategies have to be implemented, but reliable
statistics on fish consumption are often lacking, as is
economic analysis on markets and marketing of aqua-
culture products.

Harmful algae blooms are among the most serious
threats for the future of shellfish farming in Europe.
Sometimes a bloom can last
for exceptionally long
periods or occur during a period of concentrated sales
and compensation for the shellfish farmers affected may
be justified, except in the case of recurring phenomena.

Enlarging the knowledge base of the industry encom-
passes all the aspects of farming and is paramount for
aquaculture. Due to the inadequacy of the funds allocated
for this purpose,
to further encourage
is essential
applied research and technological development in aqua-
culture, by expanding the opportunities for its public
financing and promoting private initiative in this area.

it

their

should

enterprises

to
Aquaculture
and to
improve
develop voluntarily initiatives
that go beyond the
minimum legal requirements in terms of environmental
protection.

environmental performance

encouraged

be

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Official Journal of the European Union

6.8.2004

(9)

In order to enable public aid for aquaculture service
vessels to be maintained,
it is necessary to establish a
clear distinction between those vessels and fishing
vessels as defined in Council Regulation (EC) No
2371/2002 of 20 December 2002 on the conservation
and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under
the common fisheries policy (1),
since some fishing
vessels may be exclusively used in aquaculture but
could possibly revert to fishing activity.

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 is hereby amended as follows:

1. In Article 10(3), point (a) is replaced by the following:

(10)

reduction in fishing effort
To encourage permanent
where a recovery plan is adopted by the Council or
emergency measures are adopted by the Commission
reimbursement of aid previously
or Member States,
received by
the
vessels
measures should not be required.

affected by the plan or

‘(a) expenditure on equipment and modernisation shall not
be eligible for aid for five years following the grant of
public aid for the construction of the vessel concerned
except for equipment in vessel monitoring systems or in
acoustic deterrent devices.’

(11) Where a vessel has to replace fishing gear in the event of
a recovery plan, it should be possible to consider the first
replacement of fishing gear as eligible expenditure.

(12)

Community vessels may be required to use acoustic
deterrent devices in certain fisheries to reduce incidental
capture and killing of cetaceans. The cost to comply with
such an obligation should be eligible to vessel moderni-
sation aid.

(13)

The intervention by public authorities in favour of aqua-
culture from the late 1970s has stimulated production
growth, but nowadays the situation has changed and
overproduction is a threat for some branches. Conse-
quently, new priorities within the aquaculture measures
in the Financial
for Fisheries Guidance
Programmes should be set and in certain cases the rate
of aid should be reduced.

Instrument

2.

In Article 12(3), the following point is added:

‘(e) in the event

that a recovery plan is adopted by the
Council or where special or emergency measures are
adopted by the Commission or by one or more
Member States, the maximum amounts of aid referred
to in points (b) and (c) may be increased by 20 %.
Furthermore, the requirement that the vessel on which
the crew members were employed must have perma-
nently stopped its activities, as laid down in point (b),
shall not apply.’

3.

In Article 12(4), point (c) is replaced by the following:

‘(c) that the compensation referred to in paragraph 3(b) or
3(e) is refunded on a pro rata temporis basis where the
beneficiaries return to their work as fishermen within a
period of less than one year after being paid the compen-
sation.’

4.

In Article 13(1), point (a) is replaced by the following:

(14)

Some forms of finfish farming may have an ecologically
beneficial role, as a way to associate an economic activity
with the conservation or development of wetlands. In
is
such circumstances an increase in public support
justified.

‘(a) works aimed at

the protection and development of
aquatic resources, including freshwater resources, except
restocking;’

5.

In Article 15(3), point (n) is replaced by the following:

(15)

Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 should therefore be
amended accordingly,

(1) OJ L 358, 31.12.2002, p. 59.

‘(n) improvement

knowledge
of
production and in the market,
economic analysis.’

and
in
transparency
including statistics and

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Official Journal of the European Union

L 260/3

6. Article 16 is amended as follows:

(a)

the following paragraph is inserted:

‘1a.
The Member States may grant financial compen-
sation to shellfish farmers where the contamination in
the shellfish due to the growth of
toxin-producing
plankton or
the presence of plankton containing
marine biotoxins makes it necessary, for the protection
of human health, to suspend harvesting for more than
four consecutive months or, where the losses incurred as
a result of the suspension of harvesting during a period
of concentrated sales, represents in excess of 35 % of the
annual turnover of the enterprise concerned, calculated
on the basis of the average turnover of that enterprise
over the previous three years. The granting of compen-
sation may cover no more
than six months of
suspension of harvesting over the entire period from
the entry in force of Council Regulation (EC) No
1421/2004 of 19 July 2004 amending Regulation (EC)
No 2792/1999 laying down the detailed rules and
arrangements regarding Community structural assistance
in the fisheries sector (*) to the end of 2006.

___________
(*) OJ L 260, 6.8.2004, p. 1.’

provided that they contribute to the objectives of sustainable
development of the aquaculture industry in the Community.’

8. Annex III is amended as follows:

(a) point 1.4(a) is replaced by the following:

for equipment

‘(a) Vessels must have been registered in the fishing
vessels register of the Community for at least five
years, except
in vessel monitoring
systems or in acoustic deterrent devices. Changes
in vessel characteristics must be communicated to
this register and the vessels must be measured in
accordance with Community provisions, when they
are modernised.’

(b) point 1.4(b) is amended as follows:

— subparagraph (iii) is amended as follows:

‘(iii)

improvement of working and safety conditions,
and/or’

— the following subparagraph is added:

(b) in paragraph 3, the first subparagraph is replaced by the

following:

‘(iv)

financial

‘The
contribution from the FIFG to the
measures referred to in paragraphs 1, 1a and 2 per
Member State for
the entire period from 2000 to
2006 may not exceed the higher of the following two
thresholds: EUR 1 million or 4 % of the Community
financial assistance
in the
Member State concerned.’

allocated to the

sector

(c)

in paragraph 3, the following subparagraph is added:

‘Where a recovery plan is adopted by the Council or
emergency measures are adopted by the Commission
or by one or more Member States, Article 10(3)(b)(ii)
shall not apply.’

(d) paragraph 4 is replaced by the following:

‘4.
Recurrent seasonal suspension of fishing and aqua-
culture activity shall not be eligible for compensation
under paragraphs 1, 1a, 2 and 3.’

7.

In Article 17(2), the following subparagraph is added:

applied-research

‘Small-scale,
exceeding
EUR 150 000 in total cost and three years in duration,
carried out by an economic operator, a scientific or
technical body, a representative professional organisation
or other competent body, shall be eligible as pilot projects,

initiatives, not

the purchase of acoustic deterrent devices for
the purpose of Council Regulation (EC) No
812/2004 of 26 April 2004 laying down
measures
catches of
cetaceans in fisheries (*).

concerning

incidental

___________
(*) OJ L 150, 30.4.2004, p. 12.’

— the last subparagraph is replaced as follows:

‘Without prejudice to Article 16(2), the replacement
of fishing gear shall not be considered eligible expen-
diture, except if the vessel
is subject to a recovery
plan and is required to end its participation in the
fishery concerned and fish for other species with
different fishing gear. In this case, the Commission
may decide that the first replacement of fishing gear,
where fishing possibilities are significantly reduced by
a recovery plan, may be considered as eligible expen-
diture.’

(c) the first
following:

sentence of point 2.1 is

replaced by the

‘Expenditure eligible for assistance from the FIFG may
concern the installation of fixed or movable facilities to
protect and develop aquatic resources, the rehabilitation
of rivers and lakes,
including spawning areas and the
facilitation of migration up and downstream for
migratory species and the
scientific monitoring of
projects.’

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Official Journal of the European Union

6.8.2004

(d) point 2.2. is replaced by the following:

‘2.2. Aquaculture

the social and environmental
specific areas;

tissue of

(a) For the purposes of this Regulation,

(iii) the modernisation of existing enterprises;

“aquaculture” means the rearing or culture of
aquatic organisms using techniques designed
to increase the production of
the organisms
in question beyond the natural capacity of the
the
environment;
property
person
natural
of
throughout the rearing or culture stage, up to
and including harvesting;

organisms
or

remain
legal

the
a

(iv) measures intended to benefit aquaculture
falling under the scope of Articles 14 and
15 of this Regulation;

(v) farmed species diversification;

(b) the promoters of intensive fish-farming projects
shall forward the information provided for in
Annex IV to Council Directive 85/337/EEC of
27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects
of certain public and private projects on the
to the management authority
environment (*)
together with their application for public aid.
The management
decide
the project must be submitted for
whether
assessment pursuant
to Articles 5 to 10 of
that Directive. Where public aid is granted the
cost of collecting information on environmental
impact and any assessment costs
shall be
eligible for assistance from the FIFG;

authority

shall

to

schemes
761/2001

join in the Community

(c) the initial costs incurred by aquaculture enter-
eco-
prises
set up by
management and audit
Regulation
the
(EC) No
European Parliament and of the Council of 19
March 2001 allowing voluntary participation
by
eco-
management and audit scheme (EMAS) (**), as
well as investments in works concerning the
installation or improvement of water circulation
in aquaculture enterprises and on service vessels
shall be eligible;

a Community

organisations

of

in

(d) fishing vessels as defined in Article 3(c) of
Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 of 20
conservation and
December 2002 on the
sustainable exploitation of
fisheries resources
under the common fisheries policy (***) will
not be considered as
service vessels even
when they are exclusively used in aquaculture;

(f) By way of derogation from the column for
Group 3 in Table 3 in point 2 of Annex IV,
and without prejudice to the rates of contri-
bution
the
following rates of contribution shall apply:

outermost

regions,

the

for

concerning

(i) for investments concerning the use of tech-
niques that substantially reduce environ-
or
mental
finfish
impact,
that have a beneficial
farming projects
impact on the environment,
the contri-
bution of private beneficiaries (C) shall be
at
least 30 % of eligible expenditure in
Objective 1 regions and at least 50 % in
other areas. The assessment of environ-
mental benefits
shall be carried out at
charge of
the promoter and verified by
the management authority. Where public
aid is granted, assessment costs shall be
eligible for assistance from the FIFG;

(ii) for investments concerning the construction
of new intensive finfish farms not included
the
in the priorities listed in point
(e),
contribution of private beneficiaries
(C)
shall be at least 50 % of eligible expenditure
in Objective 1 regions and at least 70 % in
other areas.

___________
(*) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985, p. 40. Directive as
2003/35/EC of
the Council

amended
European Parliament and of
156, 25.6.2003, p. 17).

by Directive

last
the
(OJ L

(e) within the measures related to aquaculture in
the FIFG Programmes, priority shall be given to:

(**) OJ L 114, 24.4.2001, p. 1. Regulation as amended

by the 2003 Act of Accession.
(***) OJ L 358, 31.12.2002, p. 59.’

(i) the

development

that
of
substantially reduce environmental impacts;

techniques

Article 2

(ii) the improvement of traditional aquaculture
activities that are important in maintaining

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following
that of
the European
Union.

its publication in the Official

Journal of

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L 260/5

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

Done at Brussels, 19 July 2004.

For the Council
The President

C. VEERMAN