§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the current EU assistance projects to the fishing industry, indicating the amount spent on each by country in the last year for which figures are available. [51465]
§ Mr. MorleyAid is available to Member States from the EU Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG) under Objectives 1 and 5a for investment in the following areas (not all applied in the UK):
- the permanent cessation of fishing activities, including decommissioning;
- the re-orientation of fishing activities (joint ventures/enterprises with third countries);
- vessel construction and modernisation;
- aquaculture;
- enclosed marine areas (e.g. artificial reefs);
- fishing port facilities;
- processing and marketing;
- promotion;
- early retirement; and
- compensation for cessation of fishing.
Aid is also available under PESCA to assist the restructuring and diversification of the fisheries sector in fisheries dependent areas and to help it deal with problems such as overcapacity and market weakness.
Member States' plans for total expenditure in their FIFG Sectoral Plans and PESCA Programmes in the five-year period 1994–1999 are:
Country FIFG objectives 1 and 5a (Mecu) PESCA (Mecu at 1996 prices) Austria 2.00 — Belgium 24.87 2.94 Denmark 139.90 23.03 Finland 27.00 3.91 France 228.10 39.05 Germany 158.00 23.47 Greece 130.00 34.33 Ireland 47.00 8.86 Italy 367.40 40.13 Luxembourg 1.10 — Netherlands 55.10 14.96 Portugal 213.20 32.44 Spain 1,114.60 49.53 Sweden 44.10 4.55 United Kingdom 123.62 49.49 No figures are currently available on actual annual expenditure in other Member States, but EU expenditure in the UK in the latest available years was:
- FIFG Objectives 1 and 5a (1997–98): £17.4m
- PESCA (1997): £0.92m.
In addition, fisheries expenditure on grants to UK ports under the European Regional Development Fund in 1997–98 was £0.09m.