EU fish fund talks collapse

Negotiations over a controversial European Fisheries Fund collapsed late last night after 12 hours of “intense negotiations”.

Belgium, Britain and Germany voted against proposals blocking a compromise attempt from the Austrian EU presidency.

Austria’s agriculture minister Josef Proell signalled that the issue would be passed onto the Finnish EU presidency in the second half of 2006.

“I am not disappointed… it is better to take more time to find a solution. I don't think there will be any possibility to sort this out before September,” he said.

“For some countries like the UK, it was already too much from the start, they said it was too much for sustainable fisheries.”

A “key stumbling block” at the Brussels meeting of fisheries ministers on Monday was the provision of EU grant aid for fishing boat engine replacement.

Conservationists and governments had attacked the proposal as likely to increasing fishing capacity against EU commitments to phase out fishing subsidies to preserve declining fish stocks.

Europe’s ministers have failed to agree the funding programme for the second time in less than a year, the 2007 to 2013 €3.8bn spending plan was first tabled in July 2004.

France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Poland and Estonia have backed the engine proposals against stiff opposition from Britain, Denmark, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands.

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