B3-0189, 0194, 0196, 0198, 0199, 0208 and 0210/94

Resolution on the crisis in the fishing industry

The European Parliament,

A.whereas Blue Europe is a common policy of the European Union and seafarers' incomes must be guaranteed at a level which reflects the dignity of working people and their families,

B.mindful of the very severe crisis which is seriously affecting the whole fisheries sector in Europe - skilled workers, shipowners, industrialists, wholesalers, fishmongers and suppliers,

C.stressing that a level of indebtedness which has become intolerable, the depletion of marine resources, the fall in consumption and currency distortions within the Union are major factors in this crisis,

D.regretting that, out of desperation, fishermen whose incomes have been badly hit for months became involved in very violent demonstrations,

E.whereas intervention by the Council tends to unbalance the markets by unfairly supporting imports to the detriment of producers,

F.whereas the crisis last winter has not led to any serious reform of the common fisheries policy by the Community, despite the economic and social situation in this sector,

G.whereas this economic and social sector is vital for the maritime regions concerned,

1.Reaffirms the need to respond to the fishermen's distress so that they regain confidence in the European dimension of their work;

2.Calls on the Commission, the Council and the Member States to take the necessary emergency measures for as long as is required and, in particular, to raise minimum prices to an adequate level at external frontiers and restrict imports so that the market can resume its normal regulatory function;

3.Reaffirms once again that the fundamental problems cannot be resolved without a real budgetary effort by Member States and the Community to finance, in accordance with fair competition rules, a social policy, training, better management of marine resources and a negotiated restructuring of fishing fleets in conjunction with trade organizations and both sides of the industry;

4.Calls on the Commission to submit to the Council, as soon as possible, a proposal for a regulation containing a financial measure which will provide compensation for falls in the price of fishery products to be cofinanced by the Community budget and the Member States concerned;

5.Welcomes the Commission's decision to introduce a new minimum price level for salmon, but expresses concern that the new measure may not provide adequate support to the EU's salmon farming industry, sections of which have been exposed to sustained unfair competition as a result of Norwegian Salmon dumping over several years;

6.Invites the Commission to explore whether additional assistance could be offered to the sections of the salmon farming industry which have suffered the most as a result of such unfair competition, and notably to the peripheral islands and regions of Ireland and Scotland which have had to contend with the additional burden of very high transport costs;

7.Calls on the Council to adopt the Commission proposal on landings by third country vessels;

8.Calls for immediate measures to prevent dumping and for the closure of external borders to products which fail to meet the health standards required of Community production;

9.Calls for all checks to be stepped up so that the provisions of the common fisheries policy are complied with more effectively (health checks at frontiers and respect for fishery zones, quotas and Community preference);

10.Requests that compensation for the effects of the violence be paid without delay by the States concerned in accordance with the law;

11.Requests that a substantive political debate on fisheries, attended by the Commission and the Council, be held during the March part-session; calls on the Commission to inform it in the debate of all the measures taken and projects planned to ensure the sustainability and prosperity of the common maritime fishing industry;

12.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council and the governments of the Member States.