Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-04-25-Speech-4-007"
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"en.20020425.1.4-007"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the Commission has again postponed the enactment of the proposals for the reform of the common fisheries policy, which was originally to take place last week. That has, at least, the advantage that they have another few weeks, or maybe even longer, to incorporate into their proposals for reform the suggestions for future fleet management in my report, on which we are voting today.
Now, then, to my report, in which I have consciously limited myself to the Commission's report on the implementation of the multi-annual guidance programmes for reducing fleets. As we are at the crucial stage of preparations for the reform of the common fisheries policy as a whole and thus also of the fleet policy in particular, I would like to express a view on the MAGPs in general, pointing out a number of problems to which consideration must be given at all costs when the reforms are set in train. There are only two – identically-worded – amendments to be voted on today, and I, as rapporteur, can support them without further ado. What this shows is that the Committee on Fisheries is as one in its assessment
that the Commission's report for 2000, like its predecessors, had shown one thing above all, namely that the MAGPs have not achieved their objective of significantly reducing fleet capacity and thus the fishing effort.
We regret the fact that the majority of the Member States again failed to reach the target set by their MAGP. We call on these to make substantial efforts to reduce their fleets, at the same time welcoming the way that the Commission has commenced infringement proceedings against several Member States which have repeatedly not kept to their MAGP objectives. We also emphatically call on the Council and the Commission, both at the same time, to analyse the reasons why these targets were not met and develop more effective sanctions.
In addition, we call on the Commission, when formulating its proposals for a new fleet policy, to deal specifically with the need for a balance between the fishing capacities and/or fishing efforts of each Member State's fleet segment and the catch possibilities available to it. Last week, Commissioner Fischler told the Committee on Fisheries that the European Union's fishing vessels are about 40% over capacity, a figure that is not only alarming but also underlines all the more the urgent need for something to be done about this.
The primary cause of this over-capacity is that the instrument used to make cuts in the fleet did not achieve its objective and that there has even been a measurable increase in fleet capacity in recent years. There is therefore urgent need for this problem to be dealt with, but, in doing so, it is imperative that the Commission ensure that the fishing fleet is reduced in a socially acceptable manner, by setting up Community financial aid to cushion social hardship. One effective means would be premiums appealing to the fishermen, which the European Union and the Member States together could use to buy up fishing tonnage and either destroy it, sell it, or use it for purposes other than fishing.
The payment of such premiums should be mandatory, and, moreover, the possibility of an increase in the Community's financial contribution should be examined. The previous system led to the situation in which fishermen wanting to leave the business, or having already done so, sell their ship's tonnage on the market, so that even more of the fleet is bought up by efficient companies, yet this does not result in any reduction in capacity. At the end of the day, efforts to reduce fleet capacity must not be to the detriment of on-board working conditions, the vessel's safety, or the quality of the catch. Structural aid must therefore continue to be used to modernise the fleet, but means and ways have to be found to prevent the fishing effort being increased at the same time.
I am aware that the production of a balanced proposal is no easy task for the Commission, and we are already eagerly awaiting its proposals for reform. I will conclude by thanking all my fellow MEPs who have helped with this difficult task, and, in particular, the Commission for its constructive cooperation."@en1
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