(2004/C 70 E/190)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2970/03

by Catherine Stihler (PSE) to the Commission

(6 October 2003)

Subject:   Withdrawal from the Common Fisheries Policy

Could the Commission comment on the feasibility of a Member State leaving the Common Fisheries Policy under the current Treaties and draft European Constitution?

Would either this action or taking fisheries policy under national control involve either withdrawal of the Member State concerned from the European Union or renegotiation of the Treaties requiring the unanimous approval of all Member States?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(30 October 2003)

As Community law currently stands (Article 3(1)(e) of the EC Treaty) the Community's activities include a common fisheries policy whereby it holds exclusive authority on matters of fishery resource conservation and management in both inland waters and at sea. This exclusive authority as regards organisation of the sector and conservation of marine biological resources arises from Article 37 of the EC Treaty and Article 102 of the 1972 Act of Accession. The Court of Justice has determined the range of the Community's authority, confirming that it has replaced that of the Member States in both Community waters and beyond these. The Community's exclusive authority where non-Community waters are concerned involves international commitments entered into with either individual countries (negotiation and conclusion of agreements) or groups of countries (Community representation in international fishery organisations) (1).

The scope of the common fisheries policy was recently confirmed by Article 1 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 (2). Thus there are two aspects to the Community's authority: it embraces live aquatic resources, aquaculture, and the processing and marketing of fishery and aquaculture products in waters falling under the sovereignty or jurisdiction of the Member States, and covers all fishing activities in these waters, whether carried out by fishermen and vessels of the Member States or by those of other countries; it takes in all fishing by fishermen and vessels of the Member States both within Community waters and on the high seas and within the fishing zones of other countries, in the latter instances in conformity with the rules of international law.

The regulatory corpus of the common fisheries policy is directly applicable in the Member States' domestic legal systems and takes precedence over their domestic laws (3). Accordingly national authorities would be in violation of their obligations were they to adopt legal acts setting aside application of the EC Treaty or of Community law adopted under it. Nothing a Member State does can affect the uniform validity of Community law throughout the Community.

The provisions of the EC Treaty can be modified only by a fresh Treaty ratified by all Member States.

Article 59 of the Draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe makes provision for voluntary withdrawal from the Union but not for withdrawal from a specific Union policy.

It will be clear from what has been said that, as Community law stands at present and would stand under the Draft Constitution, a Member State cannot depart from its obligation to apply the common rules adopted within the compass of the common fisheries policy.

(1)  See the Court's judgments of 14 July 1976 (Cases 3, 4 and 6/76, ECR 1976 p.1279), 16 February 1978 (Case 61/77, ECR1978 p. 417), 25 July 1991 (Case C-258/89, ECR 1991, p. 3977), 24 November 1992 (Case C-286/90, ECR 1992 p. I-6019) and 24 November 1993 (Case C-405/92, ECR 1993, p. I-6133).

(2)  Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 of 20 December 2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries Policy, OJ L 358, 31.12.2002.

(3)  The Court of Justice established the principle of the primacy of Community law over national law in its judgment of 25 July 1964 in Case 6/64, ECR 1964, p. 614 of the English edition.