§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will now provide the information required by the European Commission for the multi-annual guidance programme, in order to unlock the grants approved for construction of new beam trawlers and other fishing vessels.
§ Mr. Donald ThompsonThe Commission will continue to suspend construction aid for United Kingdom fishing vessels until we can demonstrate sufficient progress towards meeting our programme targets. We are currently considering with the industry various options for reducing fleet capacity.