Chapter III, Section 1, Article 20 · Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/2473

Contents

Article 20Aid to first acquisition of a fishing vessel#

1.Aid to the first acquisition of a fishing vessel or the first acquisition of partial ownership fulfilling the conditions laid down in Chapter I of this Regulation shall be compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Article 107(3), point (c), TFEU and shall be exempted from the notification requirement of Article 108(3) thereof provided that:

(a)the aid contributes to strengthening economically, socially and environmentally sustainable fishing activities and the beneficiary undertaking has provided verifiable information and a business plan that attests to this; and

(b)the aid supports first acquisition of a fishing vessel by a natural person who is no more than 40 years of age at the date of submission of the application for aid and has worked at least five years as a fisher or has acquired adequate qualifications.

2.Aid under paragraph 1 may also be granted to legal entities wholly owned by one or more natural persons who each fulfil the conditions set out in paragraph 1.

3.Aid under this Article may be granted for the joint first acquisition of a fishing vessel by several natural persons who each fulfil the conditions set out in paragraph 1.

4.Support under this Article may also be granted for the first acquisition of partial ownership of a fishing vessel by a natural person who fulfils the conditions set out in paragraph 1 and who shall be deemed to have controlling rights on that vessel through ownership of at least of 33 % of the fishing vessel or of the shares in the fishing vessel or by a legal entity which fulfils the conditions set out in paragraph 2 and which shall be deemed to have controlling rights on that vessel through ownership of at least of 33 % of the fishing vessel or of the shares in the fishing vessel.

5.Aid shall be granted only in respect of a fishing vessel which complies with all the following requirements:

(a)belongs to a fleet segment for which the latest report on fishing capacity, referred to in Article 22(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, has shown a balance with the fishing opportunities available to that segment;

(b)is equipped for fishing activities;

(c)is not longer than 24 metres in overall length;

(d)has been registered in the Union fleet register for at least three calendar years preceding the year of submission of the application for aid in the case of a small-scale coastal fishing vessel, and for at least five calendar years in the case of another type of vessel; and

(e)has been registered in the Union fleet register for a maximum of 30 calendar years preceding the year of submission of the application for aid.

6.The amount of the aid granted under this Article shall not exceed, in gross grant equivalent, a maximum aid intensity rate of 40 % of the eligible costs and shall in any event not be higher than EUR 75000 per fisher and fishing vessel.

Defined terms · 30

Show every defined term

ad hoc aid
means aid not granted on the basis of an aid scheme;
adverse climatic event which can be assimilated to a natural disaster
means unfavourable weather conditions such as frost, storms and hail, ice, heavy or persistent rainfall or severe droughts, which reduce by more than 30 % the average of the production calculated on the basis of one of the following methods:
aid
means any measure fulfilling all the criteria laid down in Article 107(1) TFEU;
aid intensity
means the gross aid amount expressed as a percentage of the eligible costs, before any deduction of tax or other charge;
aid scheme
means any act on the basis of which, without further implementing measures being required, individual aid awards may be made to undertakings defined within the act in a general and abstract manner and any act on the basis of which aid which is not linked to a specific project may be granted to one or several undertakings for an indefinite period of time and/or for an indefinite amount;
biosecurity
means management and physical measures designed to reduce the risk of introduction, development and spread of diseases to, from and within: (a) an animal population, or (b) an establishment, zone, compartment, means of transport or any other facilities, premises or location;
control and eradication measures
means measures regarding animal diseases for which a competent authority has formally recognised an outbreak, or regarding plant pests or invasive alien species for which a competent authority has formally acknowledged their presence;
date of granting the aid
means the date when the legal right to receive the aid is conferred on the beneficiary undertaking under the applicable national legal regime;
depredation
means preying on fish caught in nets or kept in ponds by protected animals such as seals, sea otters and sea birds;
evaluation plan
means a document covering one or more aid schemes and containing at least the following minimum aspects: the objectives to be evaluated, the evaluation questions, the result indicators, the envisaged method to conduct the evaluation, the data collection requirements, the proposed timing of the evaluation including the date of submission of the interim and the final evaluation reports, the description of the independent body that will carry out the evaluation or the criteria that will be used for its selection and the modalities for making the evaluation publicly available;
fiscal successor scheme
means a scheme in the form of tax advantages which constitutes an amended version of a previously existing scheme in the form of tax advantages and which replaces it;
fisher
means any natural person engaging in commercial fishing activities, as recognised by the Member State concerned;
fishery and aquaculture products
means the products listed in Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 1379/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council;
fishery and aquaculture sector
means the sector of the economy which comprises all activities of production, processing, and marketing of fishery or aquaculture products;
fishing capacity
means a vessel’s tonnage in GT (Gross Tonnage) and its power in kW (Kilowatt) as defined in Articles 4 and 5 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1130 of the European Parliament and of the Council;
fishing port
means a maritime or inland area of land and water which is officially recognised by a Member State and made up of such infrastructure and equipment so as to permit, mainly, the reception of fishing vessels, loading and unloading their catches, the storage, receipt and delivery of those catches and the embarkation and disembarkation of fishers;
gross grant equivalent
means the amount of the aid if it had been provided in the form of a grant to the beneficiary undertaking, before any deduction of tax or other charges;
individual aid
means ad hoc aid and awards of aid to individual beneficiaries on the basis of an aid scheme;
inland fishing
means fishing activities carried out for commercial purposes in inland waters by vessels or other devices, including those used for ice fishing;
invasive alien species
means invasive alien species of Union concern and invasive alien species of Member State concern as defined in Article 3(3) and 3(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1143/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (‘Regulation (EU) No 1143/2014’);
micro, small and medium-sized enterprises
means undertakings fulfilling the criteria laid down in Annex I;
mutual fund
means a scheme accredited by the Member State, in accordance with its national law, which enables affiliated fishers to insure themselves, whereby compensation payments are made to affiliated fishers for economic losses caused by the events listed in paragraph 1, point (a).
natural disasters
means earthquakes, avalanches, landslides, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions and wild fires of natural origin;
outermost regions
means the regions referred to in Article 349 TFEU;
protected animal
means any animal other than fish protected either by Union or by national legislation;
repayable advance
means a loan for a project which is paid in one or more instalments and the conditions for the reimbursement of which depend on the outcome of the project;
small-scale coastal fishing
means fishing activities carried out by: (a) marine and inland fishing vessels of an overall length of less than 12 metres and not using towed gear as defined in point (1) of Article 2 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1967/2006;
start of works
means the earlier of either the start of construction works relating to the investment, or the first legally binding commitment to order equipment or any other commitment that makes the investment irreversible.
subsidised services
means a form of aid, where the aid is granted to the final beneficiary undertaking indirectly, in kind, and is paid to the provider of the service or activity in question;
undertaking in difficulty
means an undertaking fulfilling the criteria laid down in Article 2, point (18), of Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014.