France given huge fines for breaching fishing rules
France was today ordered to pay massive cash penalties for flouting Europe’s fishing rules for at least 14 years.
Judges at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg approved a European Commission request to fine Paris €308,742 per day – and then said an extra lump sum fine of €29m was “essential” because of France’s “serious and persistent” failure to comply with EU law.
The same court ruled in 1991 that France had failed to carry out fishing controls between 1984 and 1987 and order compliance with EU rules.
EU inspections at French ports over the following 11 years convinced the Commission that France was still not complying fully with its obligations.
Brussels went back to court again, complaining that undersize fish were on sale, and there was a “lax attitude” by the authorities about taking action.
Today the judges agreed the rules were still being flouted and approved the daily penalty, also adding the one-off lump sum fine – the largest penalties to be imposed on an EU government.
The persistence of the French fishing practice of offering undersize fish for sale and the lack of any effective crackdown by French authorities were so bad that they seriously prejudiced EU fishery conservation efforts, said today’s ruling.
EU judges can impose lump sum fines or daily penalties on member states flagrantly breaching euro-rules – but this is the first time they have decided to hit a country with both.
The judges justified the move today saying they could trigger both types of penalty at the same time “where the breach of obligations has both continued for a long period and is inclined to persist.”
The €29m fine is payable immediately. The €308,742 per day fine is only payable after six months if the long-standing illegal fishing has not stopped, and again every subsequent six months until French fishermen comply with the rules.
Potentially, that’s more €56,357,048 each half-year while the problem continues.
Today’s ruling said the continuing fishing illegalities found by the Commission were caused by French authorities failing to to conduct “effective, proportionate and dissuasive” controls on French fishermen, as required by EU rules.
Fishing infringements which were found were not being recorded and reports against offenders were not drawn up – and fishermen were going unpenalised.
By August 2000 France had still not taken all the necessary measures to comply with the 1991 Court decision.
“Furthermore, on the date of examination of the facts by the Court, the information available shows that significant deficiencies persisted.”
Today’s fines are by far the biggest levied by the European Court against a member state.
Spain faces a penalty of €10m over dirty bathing water, but may not have to pay if conditions improve within an 18-month deadline.
Greece has recently paid a fine of nearly €5.84m for breaching EU rules on sewage treatment.
