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Hudghton (Verts/ALE).
– Mr President, many communities, many families in Scotland are
highly dependent upon the fishing industry, an industry which has had
massive economic and social pain inflicted upon it as a direct result of
political decisions made in Brussels under the Common Fisheries Policy.
The rocketing cost of fuel could be the final straw for many businesses -
and a fishing boat in Scotland is a business, very often a family-run
business - which have been forced by the CFP to operate this year for only
15 days each month.
Some EU governments apparently recognise the exceptional economic pressure
which rising fuel prices puts upon the fisheries sector. Recently France,
supported by at least four other Member States, sought a long-term
Community mechanism for granting public aid to the sector. This initiative
was opposed - unsurprisingly - by the UK, citing the need to respect state
aid and competition rules. I think the real reason for the UK failing to
support that proposal was, as usual, that it did not wish for any
precedent which might require it to aid its fishing industry - which it
never does.
Mr Fischler, regrettably, was also unsympathetic, apparently saying that
fisheries, unlike the agriculture sector, could easily respond to the fuel
price increases by increasing fish prices. That is all very well, but what
about the consumer, and what about the fact that fish products are
relatively healthy and are recommended by dieticians to consumers?
The agriculture sector in Scotland is also suffering greatly from high
fuel costs, not just through the direct use of fuel on farms, but also
owing to the excessive cost of sending their produce to distant markets,
an economic pressure which the UK Treasury has also added to in the form
of unjustly high levels of taxation. But it is people and communities and
not just businesses that suffer. The Orcadian, the newspaper of the
Orkney Islands, reports a 67% rise in the price of fuel leading to an
overspend by Orkney Ferries. Sometimes in the Orkney Isles, the Shetland
Isles and the Western Isles it is normal and indeed essential for people
to take two ferries to get to work or to shop. This is not just affecting
businesses, it is impacting on a whole community. |
