Council Regulation (EC) No 2328/2003 of 22 December 2003 introducing a scheme to compensate for the additional costs incurred in the marketing of certain fishery products from the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands and the French departments of Guiana and Réunion, as a result of those regions' remoteness

Council Regulation (EC) No 2328/2003
of 22 December 2003
introducing a scheme to compensate for the additional costs incurred in the marketing of certain fishery products from the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands and the French departments of Guiana and Réunion, as a result of those regions' remoteness
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 37 and Article 299(2) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament(1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee(2),
Whereas:
(1) The fisheries sector in the outermost regions of the Community faces difficulties, which are aggravated in particular by the cost of transporting fishery products to the markets as a result of their remoteness and isolation.
(2) As part of the Community's policy to assist its outermost regions, by Decisions 89/687/EEC(3), 91/314/EEC(4) and 91/315/EEC(5) the Council has set up programmes of options specific to the remote and insular nature of the French overseas departments (Poseidom), the Canary Islands (Poseican) and Madeira and the Azores (Poseima) respectively, which outline the measures to be applied taking account of the special characteristics of and constraints on those regions.
(3) Article 299(2) of the Treaty recognises the particular handicaps affecting the economic and social situation of the outermost regions, made worse by their remoteness and insularity. The same also applies to the fishing industry.
(4) The regions concerned are facing specific development problems, and in particular additional costs incurred in the marketing of certain products as a result of their remoteness.
(5) With a view to maintaining the competitiveness of certain fishery products compared with that of similar products from other Community regions, the Community introduced measures in 1992 and 1993 to compensate for such additional costs in the fisheries sector. Those measures were then followed in 1994 and in the period 1995 to 1997 by the adoption of Regulations (EC) No 1503/94(6) and (EC) No 2337/95(7) and in the period 1998 to 2002 by the adoption of Regulations (EC) No 1587/98(8) and (EC) No 579/2002(9). From 2003 provision needs to be made for continuation of the scheme for offsetting the additional costs for certain fishery products as regards processing and marketing and, accordingly, measures should be adopted so that these measures may continue.
(6) The non-industrial and inshore fishing industry is of social and economic importance in the outermost regions of the European Union.
(7) For the sake of sound management of stocks fishing efforts must be rationalised, in particular in the light of the research of a high technical standard conducted in this area by various scientific institutions in the outermost regions.
(8) The Community rules on the conservation and management of stocks must be observed in those regions, and in particular, in the case of the French department of Guiana, the rule prohibiting fishing for shrimp at a depth of less than 30 metres.
(9) In order to promote the economic development of the outermost regions concerned, the Member States should be able to adjust the quantities and the Commission to adjust the amounts and quantities set for the various species from the same outermost region or between outermost regions of the same Member State, to take account of changes in marketing conditions and species' characteristics.
(10) Where adjustment between species or within regions belonging to the same Member State has not led to full utilisation of the amounts available, the Commission should be able to adjust the amounts and quantities set for the various species between outermost regions of different Member States. In that event, adjustment should be without prejudice to the scale for allocating amounts available under this Regulation in subsequent years.
(11) The measures necessary for the implementation of this Regulation should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission(10),