According to the European Commission the new guidelines will ensure consistency with the new European Fisheries Fund (EFF). It says that the new guidelines will also allow for the implementation of the Commission’s policy on state aid by taking into account the objectives of both the European Union competition policy and of the Common Fisheries Policy.
It is said that the new rules will allow Member States to grant state aid for most of the measures included in the EFF. However, the new rules do not include the aid for the replacement of engines and fishing gear aid and aid for the sustainable development of fisheries areas due to their specific character. Under new guidelines the Member State will be allowed to grant state aid for compensation for damages caused by natural disasters, exceptional occurrences or bad weather events.
The new guidelines also states that under certain conditions it allows state aid in the form of tax relief and labour related costs for European Union vessels fishing for tuna and tuna-like species outside EU waters and beyond 200 nautical miles. This has been done to discourage EU operators registering their fishing vessels in third countries which do not ensure proper control over the activities of their fishing fleet, especially in terms of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
Most importantly the new rules improve the state aid for marketing of fisheries products from the EU’s outermost regions. It is said that the new guidelines will be effected from 1 April this year.
