30.4.2004   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 106/38

1.

Annul Council Regulation (EC) No 2287/2003 (1) of 19 December 2003 fixing for 2004 the fishing opportunities and associated conditions for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, applicable in Community waters and, for Community vessels, in waters where catch limitations are required, in so far as it does not allocate quotas to Spain in relation to the fishing possibilities which were distributed before the accession of that State in respect of the North Sea;

2.

Order the defendant to pay the costs.

1.

Breach of the principle of non-discrimination:

Article 166 of the Act of Accession of Spain laid down, so far as concerns access to waters and resources of the Spanish fleet, a transitional period which ended upon the expiry of the period prescribed in Article 8(3) of Regulation (EEC) No 170/83, that is on 31 December 2002. However, the contested regulation in practice maintains the restrictions on access in respect of Spanish vessels to waters in the North Sea and in the Baltic Sea by granting practically no quotas in those waters, thus disregarding the fact that the transitional period has ended and discriminating against Spanish fishermen by comparison with those from other Member States.

2.

Infringement of the Act of Accession of Spain:

The restrictions laid down in that Act are being extended beyond the time-limit laid down in Article 166 thereof by means of the contested regulation and inasmuch as certain quotas have not been allocated to Spanish vessels in the North Sea and in the Baltic Sea.

3.

Breach of the principle of relative stability

The contested regulation radically changes the decisive factors so far as concerns the percentage of catches since Spanish vessels are not on an equal footing with vessels of the other Member States in terms of the application of the principle of relative stability.