The negotiations on EU Structural Funding for fisheries, post-1999 were concluded at the Council of Fisheries Ministers meeting on 21 and 22 November. My utmost priority was to ensure that a satisfactory financial regulation was agreed by Council which would allow for continu ing investment in the industry under the next round of Structural Funds.
I had fundamental problems, in principle and in practice, with the Commission's proposed terms and conditions for grant-aiding fleet renewal. The major difficulty for Ireland related, as the Deputy points out, to the provision which required that a 130 per cent tonnage replacement policy should be applied to all new and second-hand vessels entering the fleet with grant-aid support. With the backing of other member states, I held out against the hardline proposals at the June and October Councils and forced the Presidency and the Commission to reconsider the terms of the detailed rules governing public investment in the fleet.
I am pleased that at the Council meeting on 21 and 22 November I successfully faced down the Commission's proposals to introduce the requirement for a 130 per cent replacement capacity. The agreement I secured at Council provides that where annual EU fleet targets are met a principle of one for one replacement and not 130 per cent should continue to apply as a pre-condition for grant-aiding new and modern second-hand fishing vessels. I made it clear to the Council that I could not accept any attempt to either overrule fleet capacity requirements which had already been provided for separately in a 1997 Council decision or to pre-empt political negotiations and decisions on the next fleet programme which will be determined in 2001. This would have seriously impeded our plans to modernise the inshore fisheries sector, where half of our fishermen are employed, and the whitefish sector, at a time when modernisation is critical to make it safer and more competitive with other EU fleets.
I also won Council agreement for my proposal that within the grant aid provisions there should be specific support for young fishermen to become boat owners in the industry. That agreement provides that fishermen under 35 will be eligible for a grant of up to 50,000 euros. In addition, I ensured that small scale coastal fishing vessels of up to 12 metres, groups of vessel owners or a family of fishermen can avail of a 150,000 euro premium for development.
The agreement secured at the Council of Ministers represents a realistic balance between the conservation of fish stocks and the need to ensure a safe, modern and high quality work environment for fishermen.
