§ Sir Richard BodyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many EU vessels, by nationality, are covered by agreements with non-EU countries for fisheries access; what is the total cost of these agreements to the EU budget; and if he will deposit the Commission report on third country fisheries agreements in the Library. [97521]
§ Mr. MorleyI have placed a copy of the summary report on the "Evaluation of the Fisheries Agreements Concluded by the European Community", prepared for the European Commission by IFREMER, in the Library of the House.
According to this report, the average annual number of licences issued to EU vessels to fish in third country waters between 1993 and 1997, broken down by nationality, is as follows:
Country Total average annual number of licences Austria 0 Belgium 62 Denmark 865 Finland 5 France 255 Germany 159 Greece 1 Ireland 2 Italy 11 Luxembourg 0 Netherlands 187 Portugal 46 Spain 953 Sweden 54 UK 433 The report also indicates that the average annual total cost to the EU budget of agreements with third countries between 1993 and 1997 was 211 million euros.