§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what financial aid and support, regional and national, is paid to(a) the French, (b) the Spanish and (c) the Danish fishing industry which is not available to British fishermen.
§ Mr. JackMember states are free to operate aids which benefit fishermen provided they comply with the conditions of article 92 of the treaty of Rome and the guidelines on the examination of state aids in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors. The European Commission has responsibility, under article 93 of the treaty, for keeping under constant review all systems of aid operating in each member state to ensure that they do not result in unfair competition. We are not ourselves in a position to construct a complete picture of the aids operated in other member states, or to analyse all the financial regimes of other member states to establish their relevance to fishermen. Indeed, it would be disproportionately costly to attempt this. We do, however, press the Commission to fulfil its responsibility when we suspect another member state is operating an unfair aid, and we have recently written to the Commission in relation to certain French and Spanish aids.