Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-03-10-Speech-1-142"
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"en.20030310.7.1-142"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, it is a pity that Mr Stevenson is not here. As you know, stocks of cod in several areas are in a quite disastrous state. Since the year 2000, the situation has dramatically worsened and the stocks are threatened with collapse. ISIS, the international scientific body, has advised closing cod, whiting and haddock fisheries for the duration of this year. This, it is thought, would be the safest way to rescue our cod stocks. However, such a drastic measure does not take account of the massive economic and social consequences that this would have on the entire sector. That is why a sustainable plan needs to incorporate all three dimensions of sustainability and that includes above all the economic and social consequences.
We therefore tabled an improved recovery plan to our technical and scientific committee as an alternative to a moratorium. It issued a favourable opinion. We then tabled this improved plan to the Council. In December 2002, however, the Council was only able to agree on a transitional recovery plan. I should like to stress, however, that this transitional plan is very positive because it already contains substantially reduced quotas, low fishing effort and improved monitoring mechanisms.
At the same time it was agreed that the Commission would make two new proposals for the long-term recovery of cod and hake in the spring. We will be tabling these proposals in April, and this week a hearing is taking place with the fishing sector and scientists from all of the Member States. I myself opened this hearing just this morning.
Obviously the long-term plan to rescue cod will be designed in such a way as to also make an appropriate contribution to stock recovery. I am aware that this plan will have severe consequences for fishermen in the short term. However, we can also intervene here with the help of the fisheries structural fund and cofinance social measures, such as for example compensation payments for the temporary cessation of activity or retraining measures. I can only urgently call on the Member States to take their responsibilities seriously and provide more funds in their programmes for measures of this kind. So far the following funds have been programmed for such compensation payments under the Structural Funds: Belgium has set aside EUR 800 000, Denmark EUR 1.6 million, the Netherlands EUR 1.3 million and France EUR 3.5 million. On the other hand, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Germany have not programmed any measures of this kind at all.
As regards the additional EUR 150 million of compensation to alleviate the socio-economic consequences in the regions concerned, I should like to make it quite clear that it is not the Commission that makes this decision, but the budgetary authority. Unfortunately, however, the Commission has not yet received any positive signal, either from the Council or Parliament, that the budgetary authority would accept such a proposal.
Turning now to your demand for the creation of regional advisory fora, I fully agree with this proposal. I would explicitly call on the Member States to take the initiative here so that regional bodies of this kind can be set up as soon as possible. These fora would moreover provide a place where scientists, fishermen and all of the other stakeholders, including the regional authorities, could do precisely what you call for in your motion, namely hold regular consultations.
As regards the call for extended powers of codecision, you know what the Commission's position is: the Commission fully supports this request."@en1
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