Council Regulation (EC) No 1207/2008 of 28 November 2008 amending Regulation (EC) No 639/2004 on the management of fishing fleets registered in the Community outermost regions

5.12.2008 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 327/1
COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1207/2008
of 28 November 2008
amending Regulation (EC) No 639/2004 on the management of fishing fleets registered in the Community outermost regions
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),
Whereas:
(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 639/2004 of 30 March 2004 on the management of fishing fleets registered in the Community outermost regions (2) allows derogations from Article 13 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 of 20 December 2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries Policy (3). That Article provides for a general scheme to manage entries into the fleet as well as exits from the fleet.
(2) Article 2(5) of Regulation (EC) No 639/2004 fixes the period of validity of the derogation from the entry/exit scheme for fishing vessels having received public aid for renewal. That period was originally set at 31 December 2007 and was than extended until 31 December 2008 following the political agreement reached in the Council on 19 June 2006 concerning the European Fisheries Fund.
(3) The Commission act allowing the Member States concerned to grant State aid was adopted later than foreseen. Given the fact that the interested shipyards have a limited capacity, a full implementation of the political agreement reached in the Council on 19 June 2006 becomes impossible within the deadline of 31 December 2008.
(4) It is, therefore, appropriate to extend the deadline to 2011 for the derogation set out in Article 2(5) of Regulation (EC) No 639/2004.
(5) Regulation (EC) No 639/2004 should therefore be amended accordingly,