The European Parliament legislative adopted a
resolution on the proposal for a regulation of the European
Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) No 1379/2013
and Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 as regards specific measures to
mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak in the fishery and
aquaculture sector.
The proposal aims at mitigating the social and
economic impacts of the spread of COVID-19 in the fisheries and
aquaculture sector. To this end, it amends the Regulation on the
European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) and the Regulation on
the common organisation of the market (CMO).
The European Parliament adopted its position at first
reading under the ordinary legislative procedure by means of an
urgent procedure. The specific measures proposed
include:
- support for the temporary cessation of fishing
activities, including for inland fishing and fishers on foot, and
for certain economic losses for aquaculture producers and
processing enterprises and in the outermost regions,
- provided that they are the consequence of the COVID-19
outbreak;
- the provision of working capital to aquaculture
producers and processing enterprises and support to producer
organisations and associations of producer organisations for the
storage of fishery and aquaculture products;
- flexibility to use 10% of the budgetary funds
allocated to fisheries control and scientific data collection for
measures related to mitigating the effects of the spread of
COVID-19;
- the addition of fishermen on foot to the number of
people eligible for aid in the event of temporary
cessation;
- for measures related to mitigating the COVID-19
outbreak, the proportional reduction of the 120-day activity
requirement for owners of vessels registered for less than two
years and for fishers who started working less than two years
before applying for support;
- the addition of provisions in favour of the outermost
regions to deal with the consequences of the crisis; the aim is to
compensate fishermen for the economic losses resulting from the
COVID-19 outbreak, in particular those resulting from the
deterioration in the price of fish or increased storage
costs.
Expenditure for operations supported under those
measures shall be eligible as of 1 February 2020.
The proposal is part of the Coronavirus Response
Investment Initiative+ (CRII+) package, which also includes
specific measures aimed at 1) introducing more flexibility
in the use of EU funds and 2) ensuring the continued operation
of the Fund
for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD).