The European Parliament has given the green light for Brexit compensation for severely affected businesses. According to initial calculations, the five billion euros will mainly go to the Netherlands, Ireland, and France, particularly to fisheries companies.
EU ministers, the European Commission, and the fisheries committee had already reached an agreement on the draft regulation. Thanks to this accord, payments can now begin.
Although the money is theoretically intended to support all EU countries, the reserve focuses on the hardest-hit regions and sectors. The Dutch and Irish fishing sectors have been most affected by the termination of the fisheries agreement by the British (after their departure from the EU). These two countries will receive the most financial compensation from Europe. The Netherlands can expect to receive 810 million euros.
Dutch MEP Peter van Dalen (ChristenUnie) is pleased with the final outcome, although he believes the available budget is by far insufficient for Dutch fishermen to cover their losses. Currently, only companies that have suffered at least a 30 percent turnover loss in the first quarter of this year qualify.
The European Commission says it mainly wants to compensate companies that have temporarily or permanently ceased their activities. Van Dalen expects that the money from the Brexit fund will primarily be used for restructuring schemes. He therefore fears that ultimately only a small portion of fishermen will have their Brexit losses compensated.
Van Dalen is, however, satisfied that the distribution of the money has been carried out fairly: “Some Southern European countries wanted more money at the expense of, among others, the Netherlands, but fortunately that did not happen. The entire purpose of the compensation fund is for the money to reach the countries most affected.”