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EU mulls supportive measures on fisheries sector to combat Russian trade ban

08 September 2014 19:56 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The European Union (EU) has planned to provide financial support to fisheries sector, together with a proposal of shifting unused fishing quotas to 2015 to counter Russian trade ban, an EU official said on Monday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

According to a letter, European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Maria Damanaki reassured the Council and the European Parliament that the European Commission stands ready to support the European fisheries sector.

Damanaki called upon the EU governments concerned by the ban to make use "as quickly as possible" of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), which can provide financial help to producer organisations who are unable to sell their products to Russia.

This aid enables them to store the unsold products until new markets have been found. She underlined that no approval by the European Commission is necessary to unlock these storage funds.

Damanaki also pointed to flexibility rules which allow Member States to carry over up to 10 percent of their fishing quotas to the following year.

According to the letter, she has instructed her services to examine the possibility of going beyond the 10 percent quota flexibility.