98/119/EC: Commission Decision of 16 December 1997 approving the multiannual guidance programme for the fishing fleet of France for the period from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2001 (Only the French text is authentic)

• Published date: 08 June 1999
• Subject Matter: Fisheries policy
• Official Gazette Publication: Official Journal of the European Communities, L 39, 12 February 1998

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98/119/EC: Commission Decision of 16 December 1997 approving the multiannual guidance programme for the fishing fleet of France for the period from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2001 (Only the French text is authentic)

Official Journal L 039 , 12/02/1998 P. 0001 - 0008

COMMISSION DECISION of 16 December 1997 approving the multiannual guidance programme for the fishing fleet of France for the period from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2001 (Only the French text is authentic) (98/119/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 3699/93 of 21 December 1993 laying down the criteria and arrangements regarding Community structural assistance in the fisheries and aquaculture sector and the processing and marketing of its products (1) as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 25/97 (2), and in particular Articles 5 and 6 thereof,

Having regard to Council Decision 97/413/EC of 26 June 1997 concerning the objectives and detailed rules for restructuring the Community fisheries sector for the period from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2001 with a view to achieving a balance on a sustainable basis between resources and their exploitation (3) and in particular Article 9(1) thereof,

Whereas Decision 97/413/EC was adopted pursuant to the provisions of Article 11 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92 of 20 December 1992 establishing a Community system for fisheries and aquaculture (4), as amended by the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden;

Whereas France, hereinafter referred to as 'the Member State`, on 7 July 1997, in accordance with Article 6 (1) of Decision 97/413/EC, submitted to the Commission a fishing effort limitation programme for the period from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2001, and has supplemented this programme by further information at later dates; whereas Article 9(1) of Decision 97/413/EC provides that the Commission shall adopt the multiannual guidance programmes (MAGP) for the fishing fleets of individual Member States no later than 30 November 1997;

Whereas Article 6(2) of Decision 97/413/EC provides that capacity reductions shall be ensured by the establishment in each Member State of a permanent regime to control the renewal of the fleet, which will determine, segment by segment, the ratio of entries/exits of vessels; whereas the programmes submitted by Member States either contain no information on this issue whatsoever or are unsatisfactory; whereas Member States should therefore communicate the necessary information to the Commission at a later stage;

Whereas Article 7(1) of Decision 97/413/EC provides that the starting point for the objectives fixed for the fishing fleets for 31 December 2001 shall be the fleet objectives fixed by the previous programme for 31 December 1996;

Whereas the objectives fixed by the previous programme should be adjusted in cases where this is justified by new information supplied by the Member State concerned;

Whereas, pursuant to Article 7(2) of Decision 97/413/EC, the particular situation of the fleet of each Member State concerned must be taken into account in fixing the objectives applicable to that fleet;

Whereas Decision 97/413/EC, and in particular Article 9(1) thereof, requires the fixing of annual intermediate targets; whereas since a large part of the first year of the period covered by the programmes will have elapsed at the time of the adoption of the present Decision it is not appropriate to set an intermediate objective for 1997;

Whereas, pursuant to Article 9(1) of Decision 97/413/EC, the Commission shall adopt the detailed rules for the implementation of that Decision; whereas it is useful to clarify certain concepts;

Whereas the starting point for calculating the intermediate and final fleet objectives under MAGP IV are the fleet objectives fixed by the previous programmes for 31 December 1996 (MAGP III); whereas the tonnage objectives set by MAGP III were expressed in gross registered tonnes (GRT), but the MAGP IV objectives must be expressed in units of gross tonnes (GT); whereas not all Member States have submitted GT values for all fishing vessels of the fleet concerned notwithstanding their obligation to measure or estimate the GT of all vessels in their fleet, and to transmit this information to the Commission;

Whereas, in those circumstances, the Commission must, using a practical approach, estimate the missing GT values in order to provisionally determine that Member State's MAGP IV intermediate and final objectives on the basis of those estimates;

Whereas however the Commission cannot accept any claims by Member States that fishing effort and/or capacity has been reduced in as far as they relate to vessels for which the Member State concerned has not fulfilled its obligation to transmit at GT value or estimate to the Commission, since the exact amount of that reduction is not verifiable;

Whereas, in the absence of the required GT tonnage values measured or estimated in...