The European Parliament’s fisheries committee today (10 July) voted to re-introduce European Union funding for the construction of fishing vessels from the European Maritime Fisheries Fund (EMFF). Such funding has been banned in Europe since 2005.
The amendment passed by one vote, aided by an alliance of centre-left and centre-right French MEPs. Though EU funding for new boats was ended because of concerns that it was leading to overfishing, France has continued using national funds for the construction of vessels.
A report by the French Court of Auditors, published last week, found that French aid to vessels has contributed to excessive pressure on fish stocks. The New Economics Foundation predicts that the change will mean up to 1.6 billion in EU funding 25% subsidies in the EMFF would go to constructing 20,000 new vessels over the next seven years.
The EMFF is the third part of a package of reforms of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). Campaigners said this change to the EMFF would undermine the main part of the CFP reform, agreed last month, which would ban discards from 2017. Monica Verbeek, executive director of campaign group Seas at Risk, said the committee vote totally undermines the progress made earlier this year in the CFP reform process.
However fishing industry association Europeche welcomed the move, saying new ships does not mean more fishing. The object of these articles is not that we want to fish more, it’s that we need better equipment on board, said Javier Garat, the group’s president. It’s even written in the article, that it is never going to increase the capacity of the vessels.
Maria Damanaki, the European commissioner for fisheries, criticised the outcome. She said the Commission’s proposal to maintain the ban “would put an end to the ineffective subsidies of the past, which contributed to overfishing and to the economic decline of the fishing sector.”
“It would get a better return to tax-payers’ money,” she added. “I am now looking forward to the position of the plenary.”
The committee members did not give French centre-right MEP Alain Cadec, who is guiding the legislation through the Parliament, a mandate to begin negotiations with member states on the basis of the committee vote. Negotiations will not start until after a full Parliament vote in the autumn.
2013 European Voice