CELEX: 31972R2722
Language: en
Date: 1972-12-19 00:00:00
Title: Regulation (EEC) No 2722/72 of the Council of 19 December 1972 on the financing by the EAGGF, Guidance Section, of conversion projects in the salt cod-fishing industry

Official Journal of the European Communities                               31
No L 291/30                     Official Journal of the European Communities                         28.12.72
                      REGULATION (EEC) No 2722/72 OF THE COUNCIL
                                             of 19 December 1972
           on the financing by the EAGGF, Guidance Section, of conversion projects in
                                          the salt cod-fishing industry
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNI­                        in particular, to encourage the salt cod-fishing
TIES ,                                                      industry to undertake not only conversion
                                                            aimed at better satisfying the demand for fish
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                which are deep-frozen on board but also
European Economic Community, and in                         conversion to fishing for tunny, a product
particular Article 43 thereof;                              which is particularly scarce in the Community;
Having regard to the proposal from the                      whereas, secondly, such a project must aim to
Commission;                                                 provide training and retraining for fishermen
                                                            and shore workers affected by the structural
Having regard to the Opinion of the European                conversion;
Parliament;
                                                            Whereas it is necessary that the projects which
Having regard to the Opinion of the Economic                the Fund is asked to assist should satisfy
and Social Committee;                                       general criteria guaranteeing both adequate
Whereas Article 10 (2) of Council Regulation                guidance for the salt cod-fishing industry and
(EEC) No 2141/7 01 of 20 October 1970 laying                lasting economic benefits from the structural
down a commcn structural policy for the                     improvements planned; whereas buyers in all
fishing industry states that common action may              the Member States should be able to obtain
be decided upon in order to attain the objectives           on the same terms, supplies of the fishery
referred to in paragraph 1 of that Article, in              products caught with the equipment financed
so far as they relate to the objectives set                 by the funds;
out in Article 39 (1) (a) of the Treaty; whereas
such action may, under Article 1 (3) of                     Whereas it is desirable to require, not only
Regulation (EEC) No 729/702 on the financing                that investment programmes designed to reduce
of the common agricultural policy, be financed              the salt cod-fishing fleet be coordinated, but
by the Europear. Agricultural Guidance and                  also that supply be adequately concentrated;
Guarantee Fund, Guidance Section;                           whereas, moreover, detailed economic analysis
                                                            of the projects which the Fund is asked to
Whereas convers:on projects are necessary in                assist must show that maximum productivity
the cod-fishing industry in order to take into              is achieved by the vessels or equipment in
account the economic effects of the implement­              question;
ation of the common policy for the fishing
industry and in particular the total lifting of             Whereas certain minimum requirements must
the duties levied on imports of salt cod from               be laid down for trawlers and tunny-fishing
third countries in:o the Community;                         vessels in order to ensure that they are capable
                                                            of working sea areas situated far from the
Whereas joint action towards conversion of                  coasts of the Community;
the salt cod-fishing industry must firstly channel
the development of production, processing and               Whereas aid from the Fund amounting to a
marketing activities towards fishing for species            maximum of 25%          of the total investments
of fish requirec. by the Community and                      would be an appropriate contribution to these
obtaining the best return on them in accordance             investments ;
with Community needs; whereas it is desirable,              Whereas this contribution from the Fund of
                                                            10-2 million units of account over a period of
1  OJ No L 236, 27. 10.1970, p. 1 .                         five years will enable the problems of converting
2  OJ No L 94, 28.4.1970, p . 13 .                          the salt cod-fishing industry to be solved;
 ---pagebreak--- 32                              Official Journal of the European Communities
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :                              5.     Aid from the Fund shall cover only that
                                                           part of the project relating to the acquisition
                        TITLE I
                                                           of the equipment referred to in paragraph 3 .
PROJECTS FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE SALT
              COD-FISHING INDUSTRY
                                                                                 Article 2
                    CHAPTER ONE
                                                           To be eligible for aid from the Fund each
Measures for structural conversion of the salt cod-fishing
                        industry                           project must meet all the following general
                                                           criteria :
                       Article 1
                                                           (a) It must aim at an adaptation or reorientation
                                                               of the salt cod-fishing industry made
1.     In the context of joint projects for the                necessary by the economic consequences
structural improvement of non-industrial in­                   of the implementation of the common policy
shore fishing and of deep-sea fishing, and in                  for the fishing industry or designed to meet
order to facilitate the structural conversion of               the requirements of this policy.
the salt cod-fishing fleet, the European Agri­
cultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund,                      (b) It must offer adequate guarantees of the
Guidance Section, (hereinafter referred to as                  lasting economic effects of the structural
'the Fund'), shall participate in the financing                improvement planned.
of projects for the development of production,             (c) It must ensure that the catch from the
processing and marketing activities in this sector,            equipment provided is marketed in such a
in so far as such projects contribute to the                   way that all buyers in Member States have
attainment of the objectives referred to in                    free access to it .
Article 10 ( 1 ) of Regulation (EEC) No 2141 /70 .
2.     'Salt cod-fishing fleet' shall mean deep-sea
fishing vessels whose catch is salted directly                                    Article 3
on board (the vessels having been commis­
sioned exclusively or substantially for that
purpose) and when landed comes under                       Projects shall be eligible for aid from the Fund,
heading No 03.02 of the Common Customs                     for the activities mentioned in Article 1 (3) (a),
Tariff.                                                    only if they are implemented under a joint
                                                           programme of investment by more than one
3.     'Development of production, processing              recipient which reduces the productive capacity
and marketing activities' shall mean the pro­              of the salt cod-fishing fleet and where the
vision of equipment for:                                   recipients are, or undertake to become, in
                                                           respect of products obtained by means of
(a) fishing by vessels fitted with apparatus for           equipment financed by the Fund, members of
    deep-freezing on board,                                an organisation of producers of fishery products.
(b) increasing the market-value of the catch               They shall join this organisation at the latest by
    on board by filleting or any other method              the time the equipment is put into operation.
    of preparation or processing which guar­
    antees an outlet for the products in line
    with consumption trends in the Member
    States,                                                                        Article 4
(c) increasing the market-value of fishery
    products by means of drying-plants affected            Granting of the aid referred to in Article 1
    by the decrease in the productive capacity             shall be subject to submission by the applicant
    of the cod-fishing fleet as a result of the            of an economic analysis of the project, giving
    joint action provided for in this Regulation.          all the information required to show that the
                                                           equipment for which aid from the Fund is
4.     'Project' shall mean any public, semi­              requested has adequate capacity to ensure that
public or private investment intended wholly               the fishery products in question are produced,
or partly to develop the activities referred to            preserved, packaged or processed with maximum
in paragraph 3.                                            productivity.
 ---pagebreak---                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                  33
                     Article 5                          cod-fishing fleet to improve their qualifications
                                                        with a view to the new tasks resulting from
In order to be eligible for aid from the Fund,          the implementation of measures for the re­
the vessels referred to in Article 1 (3) (a) must       structuring of this sector, the Member States
satisfy the following minimum technical re­             shall grant allowances for attending vocational
quirements:                                             training centres .
(a) Trawlers must:                                      2.     The    minimum       conditions    which    the
    — have a gross tonnage of one thousand              measures referred to in paragraph 1 must
        five hundred tons minimum;                      satisfy shall be adopted in accordance with the
    — be fitted with apparatus for deep-freez­          procedure laid down in Article 16 of this
        ing fish at a temperature of —40 °C or          Regulation.
        lower.
(b) In the case of tunny-fishing vessels must:'                                TITLE II
    — have a gross tonnage of approximately
        600 tons minimum;                                    GENERAL AND FINANCIAL PROVISIONS
    — use the purse seine method of fishing;
                                                                              Article 9
    — be fitted with electronic fish-detection
        apparatus;
                                                        The measures laid down in this Regulation shall
    — be fitted with refrigeration apparatus            together constitute a common measure within
        either foe preserving fish in brine at          the meaning of Article 6 (1) of Regulation (EEC)
         — 18 °C, or for deep-freezing at a             No 729/70 .
        temperature of — 40 °C or lower.
                                                                              Article 10
                     Article 6
In support of each request for aid, the Member          1.     The time-scale for attaining the objectives
State concerned shall submit to the Commission          of the common measure shall be five years.
an economic analysis demonstrating that for
the project planned the amount of fishery               2.     The total cost to be borne by the Fund in
produce envisaged is reasonable in the context          respect of the common measure shall be 10-2
                                                        million units of account.
of marketing possibilities at both national and
Community level, and that this is not likely
to change in the short or medium term.
                                                                           CHAPTER ONE
                     Article 7                          Financial provisions relating to Title I Chapter I
The Member Szates shall take the necessary                                    Article 11
steps to ensure compliance with the provisions
of Article 2 (c) and shall inform the Commis­           1.     Aid from the Fund shall take the form of
sion thereof.                                           capital subsidies, granted as a lump sum or in
                                                        instalments.
                                                        2.     For any given project:
                  CHAPTER TWO
                                                        — the capital subsidies granted by the Fund
Measures for vocational training of workers affected        shall not exceed 25% of the total invest­
by the structural conversion of the salt cod-fishing        ment;
                      industry
                                                        — recipients of aid from the Fund must con­
                                                            tribute at least 50% of the total investment;
                     Article 8
                                                        3.     The effect of aid from the fund shall not
1.     In order to enable fishermen working in          be such as to distort the conditions of com­
the salt cod-fishing industry and persons               petition in any way that is incompatible with
employed in dry ing-plants directly affected by         the principles laid down in the relevant pro­
the decrease in :he productive capacity of the          visions of the Treaty.
 ---pagebreak--- 34                           Official Journal of the European Communities
4.     The Commission shall ensure that the            by its Chairman, either on his own initiative or
activities of the Fund do not conflict with            at the request of a representative of a Member
those of the European Investment Bank and              State .
those of the European Social Fund.
                                                       2 . The Commission representative shall sub­
                     Article 12                        mit a draft of the measures to be adopted.
                                                       The Committee shall deliver its Opinion on
                                                       these measures within a time limit which the
1.     In order to qualify for aid from the Fund,      Chairman may fix according to the urgency
the project must have been approved by the             of the matters submitted for consideration.
Member State on whose territory it is to be            An Opinion shall be adopted by a twelve vote
carried out .
                                                       majority, the votes of the Member States being
                                                       weighted as laid down in Article 148 (2) of the
2.     The Member State on whose territory the         Treaty. The Chairman shall not vote.
project is to be carried out shall participate in
financing the project.                                 3.      The Commission shall adopt measures
                                                       which shall apply immediately. However, if
                     Article 13                        these measures are not in accordance with the
                                                       Opinion of the Committee, they shall forthwith
The recipients of aid from the Fund shall be           be communicated to the Council by the Com­
the natural or legal persons, or groups of persons     mission. In that event the Commission may defer
who are to be finally responsible for the cost         application of the measures for not more than
                                                       one month from the date of such communi­
of carrying out the project.                           cation .
                     Article 14                        The Council, acting according to the voting
                                                       procedure laid down in Article 43 (2) of the
                                                       Treaty, may adopt a different decision within
1.     Applications for aid from the Fund shall        one month .
be submitted to the Commission at half-yearly
intervals, by 1 July or by 1 January. The
Commission shall reach a decision during the                               Article 17
six months following the closure date for
applications .
                                                       When funds cannot be allocated to a project
2.     Applications for aid from the Fund must         because the resources available are not sufficient,
be made through the Member State concerned.            applications to the Commission may be deferred
                                                       by the Member State concerned, with the agree­
3.     All applications for aid from the Fund          ment of the applicants, until the following period
must be accompanied by a written undertaking           for applications. Applications for deferment
                                                       must be submitted to the Commission within
from the applicant to respect the obligation           thirty days of the date on which the Member
laid down in Article 2 (c) of this Regulation.         State is notified of the result of the decision
                                                       referred to in Article 15 (2).
                     Article 15
1.     The decision to grant aid from the Fund                             Article 18
shall be taken in accordance with the procedure
laid down in Article 16. The Commission shall          1.      Aid from the Fund shall be channelled
give its decision after consulting the Fund            through bodies designated for this purpose by
Committee on the financial aspects.                    the Member State concerned.
2.     The decision shall be communicated to           2.      The Member States shall inform the
the Member State concerned and to the re­              Commission of cases of failure to respect the
cipients .                                             undertaking given under Article 14 (3).
                     Article 16                        Moreover, throughout the period for which
                                                       aid is granted by the Fund, the authority or
1.     Where the procedure laid down in this           body designated for the purpose by the
Article is used, the matter shall be referred to       Member State concerned shall submit to the
the Standing Committee for the Fishing Industry        Commission, at the latter's request, all sup­
 ---pagebreak---                                  Official Journal of the European Communities                              35
porting documents, or any other documents                  2.    Applications for the refund of expenses
showing that th ^ financial or other conditions            incurred by Member States in each calendar
imposed in the case of each project are being              year shall be presented to the Commission
fulfilled.                                                 before 1 July of the following year.
The Commission may, when necessary , carry
out inspection oi the spot.
                                                                             CHAPTER THREE
                       Article 19
                                                                             General provisions
1.     Where a project which is the subject of                                 Article 21
a decision to grant aid is not carried out as
planned, or where certain conditions are not               The provisions of this Regulation shall apply
met, aid from the Fund may be suspended,                   to equipment referred to in Article 1 (3) (a)
reduced or cancelled, following the procedure              and whose construction was begun on or after
laid down in Article 15, the Commission making             1 June 1971 on condition that it was not put
its decision after consulting the Fund Com­                into service before the submission of appli­
mittee on the financial aspects.                           cations for aid .
The Commission shall recover unwarranted
payments .
                                                                                Article 22
2.     The decisicn of the Commission shall be
notified to the Member State concerned and                 The procedure laid down in Regulation (EEC)
to the recipients of the aid.                              No 729/70 shall be followed in deciding upon:
                                                           — the information which must be given in the
                    CHAPTER TWO
                                                               applications referred to in Articles 13 and 19,
                                                               and the form in which applications must be
   Financial provisions relating to Title I Chapter II
                                                               presented;
                                                           — the detailed rules of application of Articles
                       Article 20                              17 and 19 .
1.     The Fund shall repay to Member States
25% of the amo-ints actually disbursed under                                    Article 23
Article 7. The expenditure may amount to
1500 units of account per fisherman and/or                 This Regulation shall enter into force on the
employee in the drying plants who has attended             third day following its publication in the
a full course of vocational training.                      Official Journal of the European Communities.
             This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all
             Member States .
             Done at Brussels , 19 December 1972.
                                                                           For the Council
                                                                             The President
                                                                            T. WESTERTERP