President. −

Question No 68 by Ioannis Gklavakis (H-0221/08)

Subject: Serious infringements of the rules of the common fisheries policy in 2005

Pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1447/1999⁽⁾, the Member States are required to report annually to the Commission any infringements of the rules of the common fisheries policy (CFP) and the related fines imposed. Recently, the Commission published the sixth report on serious infringements of the rules of the common fisheries policy (COM(2007)0448).

The data published in the report reveal that the number of infringements is rising whereas the fines imposed throughout the EU are diminishing. In specific terms, in 2005, 8.1% more infringements were recorded while the level of sanctions fell by almost 45% compared with 2004. There are also significant differences between Member States as regards the circumstances in which fines are imposed and the level of the fines.

Can the Commission say whether the various national systems of imposing sanctions guarantee equal competition between European fishermen? Does the Commission consider that it would be appropriate to set up a harmonised system of imposing sanctions for serious infringements of the rules of the CFP? How can fishermen's confidence that the rules of the CFP are applied even-handedly be strengthened so that they respect the rules on the conservation of fish stocks?