Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 485/2005 of 16 March 2005 regarding a specific action for transfers of vessels to countries hit by tsunami in 2004
Date: 2006-06-09
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU aid, FIFG, Indonesia, fishing vessel, natural disaster, sectoral aid

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 9.6.2006 
COM(2006) 285 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT 

on the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 as amended by Council 
Regulation (EC) No 485/2005 of 16 March 2005 regarding a specific action for transfers 
of vessels to countries hit by tsunami in 2004 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
  
SUMMARY 

On  16  March  2005  the  Council  unanimously  adopted  the  Regulation  (EC)  No  485/2005 
amending  Regulation  (EC)  No  2792/1999  with  regard  to  a  specific  action  for  transfers  of 
vessels to countries hit by the tsunami in 2004.  

The present report, prepared in accordance with Article 18(b)(2) of the amended Regulation 
(EC) No 2792/1999 requiring the Commission to report to the European Parliament and the 
Council  on  transfers  of  vessels  on  the  basis  of  information  provided  by  Member  States, 
mentions that Member States have not identified any possibility for transfers of vessels. The 
reasons invoked by Member States in their replies to Commission’s requests for information 
are  that  there  have  been  no  appropriate  vessels  available  among  the  vessels  to  be 
decommissioned, that decommissioning was not foreseen or that the incentives provided for 
the transfer of vessels were not sufficiently attractive.  

Therefore, there will be no transfers of vessels before the deadline of 30 June 2006, specified 
in the Regulation. The present report can be considered as the first and final report prepared 
pursuant to Article 18(b)(2) of the amended Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999. 

EN 

2 

   EN 

 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT 

on the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 as amended by Council 
Regulation (EC) No 485/2005 of 16 March 2005 regarding a specific action for transfers 
of vessels to countries hit by tsunami in 2004 

The present report is prepared pursuant to Article 18(b)(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 
as  amended  by  Council  Regulation(EC)  No  485/2005  of  16  March  2005  with  regard  to  a 
specific action for transfers of vessels to countries hit by the tsunami in 2004. 

This  Regulation  which  was  unanimously  adopted  by  the  Council  extends  the  possibility  of 
withdrawal  of  fishing  vessels  from  the  Community  fishing  fleet  with  public  aid  to  vessels 
which can be transferred to the countries affected by the tsunami for the benefit of the fishing 
communities concerned. 

In order to match the needs identified by the FAO and  the third countries requests with the 
offers of vessels in Member States, the Commission sent a questionnaire to the third countries 
concerned.  This  questionnaire  recalled  the  limitations  specified  in  the  Regulation  on  the 
vessels, which can be transferred. At the same time, the Commission requested the Member 
States to be informed of the size of the potential offer of vessels. 

Sri  Lanka  made  a  request  for  120  decommissioned  vessels  with  an  overall  length  of  9-12 
metres. The Commission informed Member States about this request and reminded them on 
several  occasions  of  the  obligation  to  report  by  30  September  2005  about  such  transfers 
according to Article 18(b)(1) of the amended Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 (FIFG, Financial 
Instrument for Fisheries Guidance). 

Member  States  are  responsible  for  decommissioning  of  vessels  within  the  programmes 
adopted under the FIFG Regulation. 

All  twenty  Member  States  with  a  coastline  and  marine  fisheries  have  informed  the 
Commission  that  they  have  not  identified  any  possibility  for  transfers  of  vessels  under  the 
amended FIFG Regulation. 

The reasons invoked by Member States were that there were no appropriate vessels available 
among the vessels to be decommissioned, that decommissioning was not foreseen or that the 
incentives provided for the transfer of vessels were not sufficiently attractive. 

Furthermore, because there will be no transfers of vessels before the deadline of 30 June 2006 
specified  in  the  Regulation,  the  present  report  can  also  be  considered  as  the  final  report  in 
response to Article 18(b)(2) of the amended FIFG Regulation. 

EN 

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   EN