Summary information on  Wijziging van de Vergoedingsregeling voor uittreding van vissers uit de visserij 2002  [amendment of the 2002 compensation scheme for fishermen giving up fishing], communicated in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No 1595/2004 of  8 September 2004  on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to State aid to small and medium-sized enterprises active in the production, processing and marketing of fisheries products ( OJ L 291, 14.9.2004 )   (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2006-06-03
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Netherlands, State aid, early retirement, fishing industry, indemnification, small and medium-sized enterprises

C 130/2

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

3.6.2006

Summary information on Wijziging van de Vergoedingsregeling voor uittreding van vissers uit de
visserij 2002 [amendment of the 2002 compensation scheme for fishermen giving up fishing],
communicated in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No 1595/2004 of 8 September
2004 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to State aid to small and medium-
fisheries products
sized enterprises active in the production, processing and marketing of

(OJ L 291, 14.9.2004)

(2006/C 130/02)

(Text with EEA relevance)

Explanatory notes: Council Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999
of 17 December 1999 laying down the detailed rules and
arrangements regarding Community structural assistance in the
fisheries sector (OJ L 337, 30.12.1999), the FIFG Regulation,
provides for socioeconomic measures to be taken. Inter alia as a
result of recent restructuring (in September 2005), there is a
need to take such measures.

The amendment of the 2002 compensation scheme for fish-
ermen giving up fishing is fully in accordance with Article 12
of the FIFG Regulation, both as regards the conditions and as
regards the level of the assistance to be granted.

The Netherlands is divided into two areas: Flevoland — an
Objective 1 region — and the rest of the country. Located
within Flevoland is the municipality of Urk, a major home port
for fishing vessels. Since Flevoland's FIFG budget for social
welfare measures for fishing-vessel crew members has already
been used up, there is no funding left for part-financing social
welfare measures in this Objective 1 region. The assistance for
crew members living in Urk will therefore not be part-financed
by the FIFG, but will instead be financed entirely from national
resources.

The 2002 compensation scheme for fishermen giving up
fishing is a national scheme open to both fishermen from Urk
and those from elsewhere. The scheme's total budget comprises
EUR 1,8 million. This State-aid notification relates only to
assistance granted to fishermen living in Urk, however.

The compensation scheme complies not only with Article 12
of the FIFG Regulation, but also with the other conditions
contained in Regulation (EC) No 1595/2004. The scheme
applies to small and medium-sized enterprises and the aid will
not exceed EUR 1 million a year per beneficiary.

It should also be pointed out that the 2002 compensation
scheme for fishermen giving up fishing was notified as an aid
measure (N 87/2002). The aid measure in question here is
merely given shape by amending the above-mentioned scheme,
but constitutes a new aid measure.

Title of the aid scheme: Wijziging van de Vergoedingsregeling
voor uittreding van vissers uit de visserij 2002 [amendment of the
2002 compensation scheme for fishermen giving up fishing],
whereby this notification relates only to assistance for crew
members of fishing vessels the home port of which is Urk.

Legal basis: Regeling van de Minister van Landbouw, Natuur
en Voedselkwaliteit van 10 februari 2006, TRCJZ/2005/3704,
houdende wijziging van de Vergoedingsregeling voor uittreding
van vissers uit de visserij 2002, Stcrt. 2006, 37

for

Annual expenditure planned under the scheme: The total
amount available for the whole of the Netherlands for social
welfare measures
is
EUR 1 800 000. The amount
social welfare
measures for crew members of fishing vessels the home port of
which is Urk depends on the number of fishermen from Urk
who submit their application before the assistance limit of
EUR 1 800 000 is reached.

fishermen giving

required for

up fishing

Maximum aid intensity: Fishermen giving up fishing early: a
maximum of EUR 500 for each calendar month during the
period beginning on the first day of the month in which the
employment contract or partnership agreement is terminated
and ending on the first day of the month in which the age of
65 years is reached.

This applies to persons who, as at 1 January 2006, had reached
at least 56 but not yet 65 years of age.

One-off payment
the fisherman ceases his professional
activity because the vessel on which he worked has been
scrapped: EUR 5 000.

if

The fisherman may not be over 55 years of age.

One-off assistance for a fisherman to retrain after ceasing his
professional activity because the vessel on which he worked
has been scrapped: equal to the actual costs of attending the
retraining course, up to a maximum of EUR 7 500.

Member State: Netherlands

The fisherman may not be over 55 years of age

Aid No: XF 2/2006

Date of implementation: From 1 March 2006

Region: Flevoland Province, within which Urk is a major
home port for fishing vessels

Duration of the scheme or individual aid: Up to and
including July 2008

3.6.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 130/3

Objective of the aid: Based on the amendment of the 2002
compensation scheme for fishermen giving up fishing, assis-
tance can be granted to fishermen who cease their professional
activity in sea fisheries.

That cessation may be because the vessel on which the fish-
erman worked has been scrapped.
In September 2005 the
2005 sea fishing capacity reduction scheme became available,
under which fishing-vessel owners could apply for assistance if
they definitively gave up fishing. Such scrapping will always
result in the crew members of the fishing vessel concerned
losing their jobs. The purpose of the scheme is to provide these
fishermen with financial assistance because of their resultant
loss of income.

A fisherman may also be eligible for assistance if he gives up
fishing early without the vessel on which he worked having
been scrapped.

A fisherman who has become unemployed as a result of the
abovementioned restructuring may also choose to apply for
assistance in order to retrain for work in economic sectors
other than sea fishing.

total national and Community assistance stipulated for such aid
in Annex IV to that Regulation.

comprise
The maximum eligible
EUR 1 800 000. The proportion of this for applicants from
Urk depends on the number who apply before the assistance
limit is reached

concerned

costs

Sector(s) concerned: Sea fisheries

Name and address of the granting authority:

Ministerie van Landbouw, Natuur en Voedselkwaliteit,
Directie Visserij
Postbus 20401
2500 EK 's–Gravenhage
Nederland

Website:

www.hetlnvloket.nl

then use the search function

Further information:

All the measures contribute towards restructuring the fleet.

Name:

H.C. Huijer

State which of Articles 4 to 12 inclusive applies and the
costs eligible for the scheme or individual aid:

Article 12

Socioeconomic measures: Aid for fishermen who give up
fishing early and flat-rate individual premiums which comply
with Article 12(1), (2), (3)(a), (b) and (c), and (4)(a) to (e) of
Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 and with Annex III thereto are
compatible with the common market within the meaning of
Article 87(3)(c) and exempt from the notification requirement
in Article 88(3) of the EC Treaty, provided that the aid amount
— converted into assistance equivalent — does not exceed the

Address:

Postbus 20401, 2500 EK Den Haag

Telephone:

(31-70) 378 43 87

Fax:

(31-70) 378 61 27

E-mail:

h.c.huijer@minlnv.nl

Contact at the Permanent Representative's Office

Name:

G.P.G. Kunst

Telephone:

(32-2) 679 15 43

Fax:

(32-2) 679 17 76

E-mail:

bre-lnv@minbuza.nl