§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the current fisheries agreements with non-EU countries indicating the cost of each to the Community's budget; how many vessels are involved in each case; and how many are(a) UK flagged and (b) UK owned. [127186]
§ Mr. MorleyThe table lists current fisheries agreements between the EU and third countries and their estimated annual cost to the Community budget.
Country Estimated annual cost £eu1 Beneficiaries Cape Verde 317,836 France, Spain, Portugal Comores 224,100 Spain, France, Portugal, Italy Equatorial Guinea 1,999,200 Spain, France, Portugal, Italy Estonia 2134,893 Denmark, Finland, Germany, Sweden Faroe Islands Reciprocal Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, UK Gabon 450,188 Spain, France, Portugal, Greenland3 24,090,750 UK, Germany, France, Denmark Guinea Bissau 5,602,500 Spain, Italy, Portugal, Guinea Conakry 1,842,600 Spain, Italy, Greece, France, Portugal Iceland Reciprocal Germany, UK, Belgium, France, Ivory Coast 622,500 Spain, France, Portugal, Latvia 2156,870 Denmark, Finland, Germany, Sweden Lithuania 2340,010 Denmark, Finland, Germany, Sweden Madagascar 473,100 Spain, France, Mauritania 32,469,600 Spain, Portugal, Italy, France Mauritius 256,781 Spain, Portugal, Italy, France Norway Reciprocal UK, Portugal, France, Spain, Greece, Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium Poland Reciprocal Sweden Russian Federation Reciprocal Sweden Sao Tome e Principe 396,844 France, Spain, Portugal Senegal 7,470,000 France, Spain, Portugal, Italy Seychelles 2,147,625 Spain, UK, France, Portugal, Italy 1Using exchange rate of one euro = £0.6225 2Plus reciprocal exchange 3Community quotas of polar cod and capelin in Greenland waters are open to all member states
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on planned changes in the size of the UK fishing fleet; what corresponding changes are planned for other EU fleets, indicating(a) how many vessels will be affected and (b) what proportion of that country's fleet this represents; and what measures he is taking to use these changes to reduce the number of flagged vessels. [127187]
§ Mr. MorleyIn document 7426/00, the European Commission recently published its mid-term review of the fourth Multi-annual Guidance Programme (MAGP IV). At the Council of Fisheries Ministers on 16 June, the UK and a number of other member states expressed reservations about the Commission's recommendations for future policy on fleet restructuring. The Commission will be consulting extensively on the report's findings before making formal proposals for new legislation and the Government will be playing an active part in those discussions.
Member states continue to be bound by the obligations for fleet reductions set out in MAGP IV and in the coming weeks the Commission will be publishing its report on Member states' progress (at 31 December 1999) in meeting those objectives. In implementing MAGP IV we are obliged to consider all vessels on the UK register.
614WThe manner in which the fishing opportunities obtained in third country waters is expressed varies from agreement to agreement. Total vessel capacity, number of licences, reference tonnages and numerical quotas are used singly or in combination to describe the fishing opportunities available to community vessels. It is not, therefore, possible to determine the number of vessels involved in every case. However, the table indicates which member states benefit from the opportunities made available under each agreement.