PURPOSE : to give financial support for expenditure incurred by Member States in policing the common fisheries policy
COMMUNITY MEASURE : Council Decision 2001/431/EC on a financial contribution by the Community to certain expenditure incurred by the Member States in implementing the control, inspection and surveillance systems applicable to the common fisheries policy.
CONTENT : This Decision will be applied for three years from 2001 to 2003. The financial reference for this period is EUR 105 million. If this is insufficient, priority is given to expenditure on the control measures provided for in the Community rules. The financial contribution will be granted for the following actions:
- creation of the mechanisms and IT networks necessary for information exchange in connection with control. The annual financial contribution per Member State will be a maximum of 65% of eligible expenditure.
- experimentation with and implementation of new technologies to improve control of fishery activity. The annual contribution per Member State will be at most 50% of eligible expenditure, with some exceptions. The annual budget allocation towards which a contribution of more than 50% is paid is restricted to 20% of the budget envelope.
- training of control departments' officials. The annual financial contribution will be a maximum of 50% of eligible expenditure.
- implementation of new inspection and observer schedules in the framework of Regional Fishery Organisations (RFOs) to which the Community is a contracting party. The annual financial contribution per member state is a maximum of 50% of eligible expenditure.
- acquisition and modernisation of control, inspection and surveillance equipment. The annual financial expenditure will be a maximum of 35% of eligible expenditure, with certain exceptions.
A special financial contribution of upto 50% of eligible expenditure per Member State per year may be granted for eligible expenditure on introducing a system of assessment, including developing analytical accounting procedures permitting calculation of the cost of various control measures.
DATE OF APPLICATION : 1 January 2001.�