Activites

• 1996/07/08 Final act published in Official Journal
• 1996/06/20 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T4-0347/1996 summary

    Noting that the crisis in the fisheries sector involved not only resources (over-fishing, dwindling fish stocks, degradation of the marine environment etc.) but also prices and fishermen's incomes, as a direct result of the fall in producer prices, the report by Mrs PERY (PSE, F), adopted by Parliament proposes a whole range of measures with a view to a common fisheries policy which meets the concerns of fishermen and other economic operators dependent on this sector. In particular, they must be involved more closely in policy making, to restore their confidence in the European Union's management of the CFP. It therefore calls on the Commission and the Council to clarify what importance they attach to the 'production' dimension in the common fisheries policy and, on that basis, to assess where the sector's future lies. It calls on the Commission to: . make realistic assessments of the available and accessible resources both in EU waters and elsewhere, . consider in what way the management of resources could be improved (protection of areas in which young fish are concentrated, the improvement of working instruments and fishing methods and the improvement of water quality, etc.) and to allow stocks to recover to the point where their conservation is ensured and they can support a viable fishing industry. Reaffirming that the reduction in fishing effort must not depend on the scrapping of vessels, as the Commission proposes, but rather on active policies to defend fish stocks, it calls on the Commission to determine the conditions in which the Member States may legally limit the quota transfer procedure. It calls on the Council to implement a stringent and equitable fleet-reduction programme to check the over-exploitation of fish stocks, while ensuring fair compensation to the fishermen affected by this measure. Producers' organizations must also be more closely involved in market policy. Parliament called, moreover, for: - the adoption, for all major fish stocks, of long-term scientifically-based management strategies which will ensure the conservation of stocks; - a stepping up of the Communitarization of 'prices and markets' by making the existing regulations more binding (compulsory withdrawal prices, reference prices, unfair competition to be monitored as regards the health rules for imported products); - greater flexibility in the management of the CFP instruments (as in the case of the premium which may be paid to the industry when it proves that it has paid a minimum price to the producer); - the introduction of a financial instrument to support prices in the event of market prices collapsing (especially those for fresh fish); - the promotion of fishery products and improvement of the quality thereof; - a stepping up of monitoring at all levels (origin of the raw materials of processed products, in particular), for the monitoring system to combine the responsibility of the Member States and of the Union, for monitoring to be carried out in all fishing zones, and for it to be consistent and cost-effective. Parliament also called for the encouragement of inter-trade agreements between producers and processors and for measures to be taken to rebuild confidence between fisheries scientists and fishermen. It demanded the application of socio-economic measures, such as early retirement and training plans for fishermen and persons needing to be retrained. It called for the structural measures for the most affected remote coastal and island regions to be strengthened. In particular it called on the Commission to launch an information campaign on PESCA and make this programme a 'LEADER' for the sea. Parliament considered that, despite the current crisis, the fishing fleet must continue to be modernized, using vessels with improved health and safety conditions and more selective fishing instruments, but ensuring that fleet capacity is not increased in any way. The regeneration of shipbuilding and maintenance activities will enable the Union to maintain a degree of autonomy in the fisheries sector and make Europe's presence felt in the maritime sector. With respect to the conclusion of fisheries agreements, it looked for a far greater degree of budgetary and institutional transparency. The interests of producers should be included in the negotiations for EU Global Cooperation Agreements with third countries, in particular by reducing customs duties and providing financial support in return for the granting of certain fishing quotas. Finally, such agreements must take account of the conservation of world stocks and the enforcement of conservation measures. �

• 1996/06/18 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 1996/06/04 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A4-0189/1996
• #1788
• 1994/09/28 Council Meeting
  • 1788 summary

• 1994/09/14 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 1994/07/19 Non-legislative basic document published
  • COM(1994)0335 summary

    The Commission communication recommends a series of initiatives to resolve the crisis in the fisheries sector, while stressing that there is no question of restrictions on imports and that structural measures are the best way of safeguarding the future of the fisheries sector. According to the Commission, the crisis in the fisheries sector needs global action by all interested parties and will only be overcome by taking a series of simultaneous initiatives to conserve fish stocks and control fishing activities, structures and markets. Consequently: - stock management should be stepped up and controls made more efficient; - controls of catches should be stepped up; - measures to eliminate overcapacities in fisheries are the first step towards resolving the crisis on the markets for fisheries products and need to be supplemented by social and economic support measures to reform and reconvert the sector (e.g. bringing fish-dependent zones under the Structural Funds, Community "Pesca" initiative, cofinancing of voluntary and/or early retirement schemes, temporary Community incentives to implement minimum income and bad weather compensation schemes, training of fishermen); - management of the markets should be improved by strengthening the role of producer organizations (a posteriori examination procedure as regards extending schemes to non-members, improving exchanges of information, incentives for organizations which introduce quality improvement plans, obligation for all producers to comply with the Community withdrawal price in the event of serious disturbances of market conditions). As far as income support for producers is concerned, the Commission proposes a measure which makes provision for financial compensation for withdrawals to be increased to 95% of the applicable withdrawal price for a limited period in order to ease the cash flow of producer organizations which comply with the Community withdrawal price in the event of serious disturbances of market conditions.�

Documents

• Non-legislative basic document published: COM(1994)0335
• Debate in Council: 1788
• Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A4-0189/1996
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T4-0347/1996

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)