The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the Commission report (COM(2001) 541 – C5&nbhy;0007/2002),

–  having regard to the Corrigendum to the Commission report (COM(2001) 776),

–  having regard to Article 37 of the EC Treaty,

–  having regard to its position of 25 October 2001(1)on the proposal for a Council decision amending Council Decision 97/413/EC concerning the objectives and detailed rules for restructuring the Community fisheries sector for the period from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2001 with a view to achieving a balance on a sustainable basis between resources and their exploitation (COM(2001) 322 - C5-0308/2001 - 2001/0128(CNS)) and on the proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 laying down the detailed rules and arrangements regarding Community structural assistance in the fisheries sector (COM(2001) 322 - C5-0309/2001 - 2001/0129(CNS)),

–  having regard to its resolution of 17 January 2002(2) on the Commission Green Paper on the future of the common fisheries policy (COM(2001) 135 - C5-0261/2001 - 2001/2115(COS)),

–  having regard to its resolutions of 20 January 2000(3) on the annual report to the Council and to the European Parliament on the results of the multi-annual guidance programmes for the fishing fleets at the end of 1997 (COM(1999) 175 - C5-0109/1999 - 1999/2112(COS)), and of 5 July 2001(4) on the results of the multi-annual guidance programmes for the fishing fleets at the end of 1999 (COM(2000) 738 - C5-0107/2001 - 2001/2056(COS)),

–  having regard to Rule 47(1) of its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to the report of the Committee on Fisheries (A5&nbhy;0092/2002),

A.  whereas an appropriate policy to conserve fish stocks is the precondition for a sustainable, profitable and competitive Community fisheries sector,

B.  whereas the primary goal of the multi-annual guidance programmes (MAGP) is to ensure a sustainable balance between the available stocks and their exploitation,

C.  whereas it is essential to maintain the FIFG – and hence the current aid for the modernisation and renovation of the fleet – in order to make the multi-annual guidance programmes operational and thus achieve the priority objective of a lasting balance between current stocks and their exploitation,

D.  regretting that the data on which the report is based are still not completely uniform and therefore not directly comparable because the re-measurement of vessels does not have to be completed until 2003,

E.  whereas the Commission must have more means at its disposal for effectively checking the data submitted by the Member States,

F.   whereas the segmentation of Member State fleets differs significantly,

G.  whereas a new fleet policy will shortly have to be determined as part of the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy, and it is precisely in this general framework that the multi-annual guidance programmes must be reformed and updated,

H.  whereas fleet policy has a significant socio-economic impact on regions heavily dependent on fisheries,

I.  whereas measures to improve safety at sea should not lead to an increase in fishing effort,

1.  Regrets that yet again most Member States have failed to achieve the objectives of their MAGP and calls on them to make major efforts to reduce their fleets;

2.  Welcomes the fact that the Commission has started Treaty infringement proceedings against several Member States which have repeatedly failed to meet the objectives of their MAGP;

3.  Calls on the Council and Commission to analyse the reasons for failure to meet the objectives and to devise more effective penalties, which are related to the aim of the multi-annual guidance programmes;

4.  Calls on the Member States to complete the re-measurement of their fleets as soon as possible so that future decisions are based on uniform data;

5.  Notes that although the MAGP have achieved some reduction in the fleet capacity of the Member States, they have not brought about the desired balance between stocks and their exploitation largely owing to the failure of the majority of the Member States to comply with the MAGP;

6.  Insists, therefore, that the MAGP should not be continued in their present form when the Common Fisheries Policy is reviewed and should be amended and updated in order to increase the competitiveness, efficiency and safety of the Community fleet and thus achieve the priority objective of a lasting balance between fish resources and their exploitation;

7.  Calls on the Commission and Council to introduce, as part of new regulations on Community fleet policy, uniform and objective criteria for measuring vessel capacity and fleet segmentation, and to examine alternative or complementary methods of calculating capacity (e.g. vessel fuel consumption);

8.  Calls on the Commission to develop an "entry – exit" system for fishing boats to guarantee that there is not, under any circumstances, an increase in capacity;

9.  Calls on the Commission, in its proposals for a new fleet policy, to deal specifically with the need for a balance between the fishing capacities and/or fishing efforts of the fleet segments of each Member State and the catch possibilities available to them;

10.  Reaffirms that efforts to reduce fleet capacity must not be at the expense of working conditions on board, ship safety or catch quality, and that structural aid should continue to be provided for modernisation of the fleet; for this reason calls on the Commission to adopt appropriate measures, for reasons of safety, habitability and the quality of the fish processed on board, to facilitate an increase in the horse-power and tonnage of the renovated boats;

11.  Calls for the introduction of voluntary scrapping programmes with attractive premiums and examination of the possibility of an increase in the Community's financial contribution;

12.  Instructs its President to forward its resolution to the Council and Commission and to the governments and parliaments in the Member States.

(1) Texts Adopted, Item 17. (2) P5-TA(2002)0016. (3) OJ C 304, 24.10.2000, p. 203. (4) OJ C 65 E, 14.3.2002, p.386.