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07.02.2001
Community expenditure relating to the fisheries sector includes the following:
Structural assistance:
The European Union has four Structural Funds through which it channels financial assistance to address structural economic and social problems in order to reduce inequalities between different regions and social groups:
The Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG)
The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
The European Agriculture Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF)
The European Social Fund (ESF)
The PESCA initiative (from 1994 to 1999)
Fisheries Agreements with third countries
Management: aid to research and control
The FIFG
The Fisheries Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG) is the main instrument for Community aid to the fisheries sector.
Decisions concerning the intervention of the FIFG are taken in two stages:
The Member State submits a draft programme to the Commission for structural interventions in the fisheries sector; this sets out the strategy and priorities for assistance, as well as a request for funding, in the form of a coherent package of multiannual measures.
The Commission negotiates the programme on the basis of this draft with the Member State, and having reached an agreement with the Member State, approves it.
Over the period 2000-2006 the Community contribution may amount to 75% of the planned total cost of infrastructure in less-developed regions (Objective 1) and 50% in other regions. Where the aid goes to enterprises, the Community contributions are limited to 35% and 15% respectively.
The national contribution to the financing of programmes varies from one region to another and depending on the objective of the expenditure. The percentages of the national and Community contributions are shown in Table 1 and a country breakdown of national contributions to Structural aid in the fisheries sector for 1994-1999 is given in Table 2.
Programmed expenditure under the FIFG for 2000-2006 amounts to €3 746 million.
Programmed expenditure under the FIFG for 1994-1999 amounted to ECU 2 676 million.
Figures for actual expenditure are available for the period 1994 to 1998, when the total was ECU 1 366 million.
Three quarters of aid under the FIFG went to measures other than the modernisation and renewal of the fleet, as shown in Table 3. These included :
elimination of fleet overcapacity;
aid to the processing industry;
aid to develop the aquaculture sector;
socio-economic measures to train fishermen leaving the industry;
early-retirement schemes and compensation to fishermen for temporary cessation of fishing activities;
improvement of port facilities, marketing and processing structures ashore;
research into more environmentally friendly fishing gear.
Since 1 January 2000, support has been available for inland fishing.
As shown in the Table 3, efforts to reduce capacity of the fishing fleet involve either the part-financing of measures for the permanent cessation of fishing activities or the formation of joint enterprises with third countries.
For the period 1994-1997, vessel scrapping accounted for 94% of the total number of vessels withdrawn with assistance from the FIFG and around two thirds of the total tonnage and engine power withdrawn. The remainder has been withdrawn through assistance to joint enterprises or export of vessels to third countries.
For more information about Community aid to the fisheries and aquaculture sector, please refer to http://europa.eu.int/comm/fisheries/structures/index_en.htm There you will find information about programmed expenditure and actual spending during the period 1994-99, by area of assistance, country and region.
Support for prices under the EAGGF Guarantee Section:
A very small part (approximately €10 million per year out of a total of approximately €40 billion per year ) of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) goes into a price support mechanism in favour of fishermen producers. Community aid for price support of fish is of marginal economic importance, representing less than 0.5% of market value of the species concerned. It is only an occasional safety net to be used in the event of market failure.
In addition, start-up aid and aid to schemes for improving quality have been available for a variety of projects including support for the establishment of Producers' Organisations (POs). Their role in resource conservation has just been enhanced in the new Regulation on the Common Organisation of the Markets (COM).
For the years 1994 to 1999, refunds to Member States for this kind of aid were € 0.50 million, € 0.84 million, € 0.16 million, € 0.12 million, € 0.49 million and € 0.24 million respectively.
Since 1 January 2000 this aid has come from the FIFG (Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance).
The ERDF
The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is one of the EU's Structural Funds part-financing measures to help reduce the gaps in socio-economic development between the various regions and Member States. ERDF resources are targeted at certain less-favoured regions and are mainly used to finance improvements in infrastructure, productive investment, local development and the environment.
Community aid through the ERDF was approximately €73.1 billion for the period 1994-99. Only a very small part of that went to aid relating to fisheries and fishery-dependent areas and the ERDF does not allocate aid to the fleet.
ERDF aid may be used to part-finance structural projects such as improving port facilities particularly in areas dependent on fisheries. Especially targeted are Objective 1 regions (regions lagging behind), where most fisheries communities are to be found. Those ERDF programmes are not classified as aid to fisheries but can be found among programmes with various headings (environment or infrastructure for instance). A description of all ERDF programmes in the Member States as a whole is given on the special "Inforegio" website.
The ESF
The European Social Fund (ESF) is the main financial tool which translates the EU's strategic human resources policy aims into action. The ESF provides EU funding on a major scale for programmes which develop or regenerate people's "employability".The ESF focuses mainly on the support individuals need to become more employable, but can also be used to help improve systems and structures to make the labour market itself work better.
It is not yet settled how much of the total Structural Fund aid amount of €195 billion will go to the ESF under the current programming period (2000-2006).
Under the previous period (1994-99) the ESF accounted for some 30% (approximately €42.9 billion) of total Structural Fund aid (approximately €141.5 billion).
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