Fisheries ministers set to attack Commission’s aid reform plan

Date: 15/10/1998

By Simon Taylor

EU FISHERIES ministers are set to attack European Commission plans to reform aid policies for fishing areas when they meet in Luxembourg next week.

One national fisheries official described the Commission plan as "a complete mess" and warned that the changes could mean that crucial aid to the fishing sector might suddenly be cut off if spending increased in other areas.

Another claimed that member state officials and Euro MPs on the Parliament's fisheries committee had never been so united in criticism of a Commission proposal.

The perceived threat to the fisheries sector stems from the planned changes to the EU's regional aid programmes, under the proposals for internal policy reforms contained in the Agenda 2000 package.

The aim of the overhaul is to concentrate spending on the EU's most deserving regions. Fisheries areas which have in the past benefited from special treatment would have to compete for funds with other poor localities such as those suffering from high unemployment or urban deprivation.

Fisheries ministers will discuss the impact of the proposals on the fishing sector at their meeting next Thursday (22 October).

Opponents of the plan are likely to focus their attack on the effect the changes would have on funding for one of the most important parts of the EU's fisheries programme: grants to scrap old vessels and modernise fleets.

They claim these could come under threat if farm spending suddenly increased because of unforeseen developments such as, for example, the current loss of export markets for EU beef and pork due to the Russian crisis. Under the existing rules, fleet-restructuring programmes last several years and are covered by long-term funding guarantees. But the proposed changes would mean such aid would be paid out of the EU's agricultural spending fund, which is calculated on a year-by-year basis and can swing violently depending on the state of markets for farm goods.

Officials concede that fisheries ministers will not be able to take any binding decisions on the proposals at their Luxembourg meeting. Instead, those opposed to the changes would have to lobby their colleagues in national capitals to fight for concessions to be made to the fisheries sector in the forthcoming negotiations on the overall reform of regional aid.