Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-03-13-Speech-2-646-000"
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"en.20120313.26.2-646-000"2
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"Mr President, there is really not much argument on the topic of this discussion tonight in plenary; those countries that are eligible to increase cofinancing of the EFF have indeed severe budget constraints today, and we support this step to make it easier for them to implement their fisheries programmes and invest in the future.
I think that in this context, it is important – especially for those countries that have declining areas which are very dependent on fisheries – to take the opportunity offered by this amended regulation also to review and update operational programmes and adapt in order to become competitive in the future. In our opinion, the proposal for a new European maritime and fisheries fund that will replace the current European Fisheries’ Fund shows the way.
There is only one way for Member States aiming to mitigate and reduce the risk of future crises in the fisheries sector, and that is to rebuild stocks. No young person in the European Union today wants to invest their future in a business that is not sustainable but is dependent on subsidies; if there were, consumers would not accept it. Fisheries have to be ecologically sustainable in order to be economically and socially sustainable in the long term. With no fish, there can be no fishermen.
The future EMFF must be designed and implemented in order to support the objectives of the CFP, especially the sustainable exploitation of marine resources. In these times of budget restraints, it is even more important that the entire European Maritime and Fisheries Fund be geared for supporting sustainability. Public aid should be restricted to investments that are in the public interest.
Considerable amounts of money from the Structural Funds used to be awarded to building new vessels and modernising existing ones. In the new EMFF, the Commission is proposing some significant changes, including the suggestion to terminate public aid for scrapping, which is still available under the current programme.
The European Court of Auditors has criticised the scrapping aid for not having contributed to the reduction of fleet capacity. Indeed, if a ship owner knows that a handsome subsidy for leaving the fleet in the future will always be available, there is good reason to stay on and hope that the situation improves. Such aid is not consistent with the promotion of sustainable fishing.
Aid for the modernisation of fishing vessels is rarely in the public interest either, and while the idea of paying a ship owner to install a more energy-efficient engine which emits less CO
may be seductive, it is, in reality, impossible to ensure that the fishing capacity and effort are not increased when an engine becomes more energy efficient. Significant changes to the EU fishing fleets will be needed. If they are to be achieved, public aid could help in different ways. It must, however, be limited to measures which reduce the environmental impact of the fishing operations by such means as the conversion of vessels and gear to methods which are more selective or inflict less damage to the sea floor.
Social support measures during the restructuring of the EU fleet will also be critical. So far, such social support has been directed too much towards ship owners and too little towards the crew, and this imbalance must be redressed through measures such as retraining. Only in this way will the fishing sector be sustainable in the future."@en1
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