BUDGET: COMMISSION TABLES 2003 PRELIMINARY DRAFT AMENDING BUDGET FOR EXTRA CFP FUNDS.

• Position: Common Fisheries Policy - Brief Article

The European Commission adopted a Preliminary Draft Amending Budget on February 26 (PDAB 1/2003), the first for 2003. It is mainly intended to offer extra funding for Category 2 (Structural measures) to the tune of Euro 32 million in commitment appropriations and 10 million in payment appropriations to cover compensation for fishing fleet-cutting measures, in the wake of the deal hammered out during the December 2002 Fisheries Council on the Common Fisheries Policy (see European Report 2739, Section IV). A large chunk of the emergency measures will be paid for by rescheduling the Structural Funds for the 2004-2006 period, but extra monies will be required this year to initiate the reform.

As the measure may benefit from the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG) and it looks forward to a major revision of the FIFG programme, funding related to Category 2 of the financial perspective had to be budgeted for. But there is no longer any margin within this budgetary category's ceiling in 2003 and it...