St. Arachovitis: The government is not supporting fishermen and is imposing heavy taxes on them.

In response to a question to Minister for Rural Development and Food, filed by Sectoral Head of Rural Development of SYRIZA-PS, St. Arachovitis and three other MEPs of the party, asking that the injustice of the mass exclusion of fishermen from financial support measures for the pandemic, as had unfortunately happened with the «cessation of fishing activities» last autumn.

The question stresses that care must be taken to correct the injustice of the first call and to give priority to the inclusion of excluded fishermen for the entire period of cessation of their fishing activities. To this end, it is necessary to remove conditions that create artificial and anti-regulatory obstacles that favour only owners of large vessels.

The full text of the question is as follows:

With our question No. 1487 of 5/11/2020, 50 MPs of SYRIZA-PS highlighted the issue of the almost universal exclusion of our country's coastal fishermen from the financial support for the temporary cessation of fishing, which took place between March 1 and October 15, 2020, as a consequence of the outbreak of COVID-19. The main reason for this massive exclusion was that in the Call for «SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS FOR FINANCIAL FUNDING FOR INCLUSION IN ACTION (d) OF MEASURE 3.1.9 «Temporary cessation of fishing activities as a consequence of the epidemic outbreak of Covid-19», (ID 64MΩ4653ΠΓ-2ΑΥ) of the EU Priority 1 of the Operational Programme Fisheries and Maritime Affairs 2014-2020», published on 23/9/2020, the equipment of the Satellite-based Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) was, among other things, a compulsory condition for fishermen to become beneficiaries of the aid.

By introducing this specific criterion in the invitation, for which there is no regulatory obligation, the leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development decided to exclude the vast majority of fishermen, since coastal fishermen, as a rule, have small vessels, in which, according to the current European framework (Regulation 1224/2009), it was not and is not mandatory to equip them with this device. As a result, the aid of EUR 19 million was eventually distributed to only 689 fishermen and excluded some 13 000 vessels under 12 metres in length which are not required to install this Vessel Monitoring System (VMS-ERS).

As the President of the Volos Fishing Association says in a publication of 20/3/2021 «The result of this practice was the 95% of fishermen to stay out of the program and a pile of money to be distributed to 5% and the amounts received to start from 12,000 and reach 72,000 per boat while the average was about 35,000 to 40,000 per boat!»

As if this was not enough, the HELLENIC SHORE FISHING FISHER'S ASSOCIATION in its letter of 19/3/2021 (A.P. 183) reminds that for the first time this year the industry is burdened with two additional taxes: a) fishing vessel operation fee, ranging from 100€ to 1140€ and b) business tax which is 650€ for individuals and 800€ for legal entities (shipowners). These two taxes are levied on all fishermen in the country.

According to recent reports, a 2nd Call for Proposals under Measure 3.1.9 «Temporary cessation of fishing activities as a consequence of the Covid-19 outbreak» is under consideration, in order to cover the maximum foreseen duration of the temporary cessation and to address the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic for the fishing industry. The same reports indicate that the criterion of installing a satellite system will remain in the new call.

Because the massive exclusion of the majority of fishermen from support under Measure 3.1.9 that occurred with the first call is totally unfair and is not supported by the current institutional framework and therefore cannot be repeated, but must be corrected

Because it is stated that the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry acknowledged the injustice as, according to the letter of protest sent by the coastal fishermen of Kalymnos to the Prime Minister on 10-11-2020, when they reported the injustice to the then Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, he replied that «when he signed this decision he did not know that this injustice would occur against the 95% of the fishermen of Greece»

Because the cessation of fishing activities did not and does not concern only large vessels (>12 m) and therefore it is necessary to correct the injustice and provide fair support to every beneficiary who has been affected by the pandemic.

Because supporting fishermen is even more urgent at this critical time for the economy of our coastal regions and islands,

Will the Minister responsible say:

1. On the basis of the data available in the Call for proposals for measure 3.1.9 «Temporary cessation of fishing activities as a consequence of the epidemic outbreak of Covid-19» (IDA 64MΩ4653ΠΓ-2ΑΥ), what percentage of the fleet applied, what percentage was excluded because it did not meet the criterion of Satellite-based Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) and what are the other categories and grounds for exclusion of this call?;
2. Does the Commission intend to issue a new call for proposals for measure 3.1.9 «Temporary cessation of fishing activities as a consequence of the Covid-19 outbreak» and, if so, when?;
3. How does it intend, if a new call is issued measure 3.1.9 «Temporary cessation of fishing activities as a consequence of the Covid-19 outbreak», correct the injustices of the previous call and in particular intends to remove the criterion of  Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) and to include excluded fishermen without VMS obligation for the entire period of cessation of their fishing activities ;

The questioning MPs

Arachovitis Stavros

Papanatsiou Aikaterini

Santorini Nektarios

Olympia Teligioridou