CELEX: 31985D0281
Language: en
Date: 1985-04-24 00:00:00
Title: 85/281/EEC: Commission Decision of 24 April 1985 on the multiannual guidance programme in respect of the fishing fleet submitted by France pursuant to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2908/83

15 . 6. 85                             Official Journal of the European Communities                             No L 157 / 11
                                                  COMMISSION DECISION
                                                         of 24 April 1985
                 on the multiannual guidance programme in respect of the fishing fleet submitted by
                                    France pursuant to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2908/83
                                                 (Only the French text is authentic)
                                                          (85 /281 / EEC)
 THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN                                        importance in ensuring that ports are well supplied
 COMMUNITIES,                                                          with fish ;
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European                 Whereas maintenance of fishing capacity will be
 Economic Community,                                                  ensured by continuous monitoring of additions to and
                                                                      withdrawals from the fleet ;
 Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2908/
83 of 4 October 1983 on a common measure for restruc­                 Whereas the programme may, having regard to the
turing, modernizing and developing the fishing                        production potential, the measures for the conservation
industry and for developing aquaculture ('), and in                   and management of fish stocks, the demand for the
particular Article 5 thereof,                                         products concerned and the guidelines of the common
                                                                      fisheries policy, constitute a suitable framework for
 Whereas     the  French     Government      forwarded     on         projects which may qualify for financial support from
 28 November 1984 a multiannual guidance programme                    the Community ;
in respect of the fishing industry, hereinafter called 'the
 programme'; whereas it forwarded on 25 February                      Whereas the measures provided for in this Decision are
 1985 the latest additional information concerning this               in accordance with the opinion of the Standing
                                                                      Committee for the Fishing Industry,
programme ;
Whereas the period for the implementation of the                      HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION :
programme covers at least the proposed duration of the
common measure, in accordance with the first para­                                            Article 1
graph of Article 3 of Regulation (EEC) No 2908/83 ;
                                                                      The multiannual guidance programme in respect of the
 Whereas the programme contains the information                       fishing fleet forwarded by the French Government
 referred to in Article 4 of Regulation ( EEC) No                     on 28 November 1984, as last supplemented on
 2908 / 83 ;                                                          25 February 1985 , the main features of which are set
                                                                      out in Annex I hereto, is hereby approved subject to the
Whereas French fishing fleets and their methods are                   provisions set out in Annex II hereto.
very varied due to the range of species caught ;
                                                                                              Article 2
Whereas there is a need to continue restructuring the
French fishing fleet in order to maintain its profit­
ability ;                                                             This Decision is addressed to the French Republic.
Whereas, in the light of stocks, it is desirable not to
increase the fishing capacity of the fleet ;                          Done at Brussels, 24 April 1985
                                                                                                          For the Commission
Whereas special attention should be paid to the renewal
of the near-water company-owned fleet in the light of                                                     Frans ANDRIESSEN
the very major reduction it has experienced and its                                                          Vice-President
(') OJ No L 290, 22. 10. 1983 , p. 1 .
 ---pagebreak--- No L 157 / 12                          Official Journal of the European Communities                                   15 . 6. 85
                                                              ANNEX I
            MAIN FEATURES OF THE GUIDANCE PROGRAMME IN RESPECT OF THE FISHING FLEET
               DRAWN UP BY FRANCE WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF REGULATION (EEC) No 2908/83
            1.     Purpose of the programme
                   Renewal and modernization of the fishing fleet with a view to adjusting the quantity and quality
                   of consumer supply and fishing capacity to available halieutic resources.
            2.     Delimitation of the area concerned by the programme
                   The territory of France including the overseas departments.
            3.     Duration of the programme
                   The programme has a term of validity of five years, from 1 January 1984 to 31 December 1988.
            4.     Objective of the programme
                   The objective of the programme is to :
                   (a) for mainland France:
                        — maintain fishing capacity at its 1984 level ,
                        — improve the profitability of fishing undertakings,
                        — respect the priorities laid down in the programme, namely :
                            — fishing with near-water company vessels,
                            — the fleets in certain ports or regions faced with special difficulties ;
                   (b) for overseas territories :
                        — develop and re-orient the fleet in relation to stocks and fishing conditions,
                        — improve product quality,
                        — progressively diminish the portion of shrimp fishing in Guyanese waters allotted to third
                            countries.
            5.     The following measures are proposed to attain these objectives
            5. 1 . Construction
                   — stabilization of the total engine power of the mainland fleet for the full duration of the
                        programme at its level on 31 December 1983, namely 914 000 kW,
                   — monitoring of additions to the fleet, which must be offset by an overall withdrawal of vessels
                        of an equivalent capacity,
                   — observance of a reasonable balance in respect of additions to and withdrawals from the fleet
                        between the various regions and types of fishery.
            5.2 .  Modernization
                   Modernization aid will be restricted to measures aimed at improving on-board working and
                   safety conditions or at improving the profitability of vessels, without initiating measures which
                   result in an increase in the motor power of the vessels in question.
            6.     Forecast investments required to attain the objective set out in point 4 above
                   (a ) Mainland France:
                                                                                                          Assumed
                                                                        Additions to the fleet
                                                                                                        withdrawals
                                         Coast
                                                                                                       from the fleet
                                                                   Power (kW)            Number
                                                                                                       ( Power (kW))
                        Channel / North Sea                           25 396                 70             24 739
                        Atlantic coast                                97 490                304             94 677
                        Mediterranean coast                           16 244                 67             15 268
                                                       Total         139 130                441            134 684
 ---pagebreak--- 15 . 6. 85                            Official Journal of the European Communities                                 No L 157/ 13
              (b) Overseas departments:
                                                                            Additions to the fleet
                  Guadeloupe                                26 vessels
                  Martinique                                 18 vessels
                  Guyana                                    85 vessels of which 35 shrimp boats
                  Reunion                                     5 vessels
           7.      Investment forecasts (million ECU)
                  — Total investments planned for the period 1984 to 1988 : about 316 million ECU for French
                      mainland and 33 million ECU for the overseas departments.
                  — Planned national aid : (State budget):
                      — 1984 : 13,82 million ECU,
                      — 1985 : 14,55 million ECU.
                  Aid in later years will be kept at the same level in francs at constant value, subject to annual
                  finance laws. This financial information , as well as the breakdown between various measures, is
                  indicative.
                                                          ANNEX II
                                                    FINAL CONCLUSIONS
           1.     The Commission notes that the programme submitted by the French Government having regard
                  to the future national or Community actions of the common fisheries policy to bring about
                  medium-term restructuring aimed at ensuring satisfactory economic conditions for the fishing
                  industry, whilst observing a balance between catch potential and the capacity of the fishing
                  fleet.
                  The objective of maintaining engine power should, however, be accompanied by a permanent
                  system of management of fishing capacity in association with the management of fishing
                  resources. In this respect, the Commission considers that this system should include a control of
                  definitive entries into and withdrawals from fishing activity by region and by type of fishing in
                  order to ensure that the increase in capacity obtained by new boat building is globally compen­
                  sated by an equivalent reduction in capacity. The effect of fleet modernization on its capacity
                  should be monitored in the framework of this system .
           2.     The Commission requests that the French Government sees that the actions of local or regional
                  authorities be contained within the present programme.
           3.     The Commission points out that the investment forecasts contained in the programme does not
                  prejudge any future Community aid.
           4.     The Commission considers that the programme forecasts and their actual implementation should
                  form the subject of a more detailed analysis within the framework of the annual review referred
                  to in Article 6 of Regulation (EEC) No 2908/83, in the light of developments in the structural and
                  economic situation of fishing undertakings in France.