Case C-91/03
Kingdom of Spain
v
Council of the European Union
(Conservation and exploitation of fisheries resources – Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002)
Summary of the Judgment
1.Fisheries – Common structural policy – Conservation of the resources of the sea – Access for fishing vessels to the coastal bands of the Member States – Transitional arrangements introduced by Article 160 of the Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal – Power of the Council to adopt rules having a content analogous to that article after those arrangements have expired – Permissible
(Art. 37 EC; Council Regulation No 2371/2002, Annex I, point 6)
2.Fisheries – Common structural policy – Conservation of the resources of the sea – Access for fishing vessels to the coastal bands of the Member States – Specific arrangements restricting that access to the vessels of one Member State and having as their purpose the protection of the most sensitive Community waters – Purpose not entailing the application of criteria of reciprocity – Principle of non-discrimination – No breach
(Council Regulation No 2371/2002)
1.Article 160 of the Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties, appearing in Part Four of that act relating to transitional measures and providing for restrictions on fishing, has not been applicable since the date fixed by Article 166 of that Act, viz., 31 December 2002.
None the less, the Community legislature may, exercising the competence conferred on it by Article 37 EC, adopt new rules with content analogous to the rule in Article 160 of the Act of Accession, such as those in point 6 of Annex I to Regulation No 2371/2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the common fisheries policy, which defines the conditions of access for Spanish fishing vessels to French coastal bands.
(see paras 27-29)
2.The purpose of Regulation No 2371/2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the common fisheries policy is, according to recital 14 in the preamble thereto, to protect the most sensitive Community waters while taking account of the need to preserve traditional fishing activities. The arrangements applicable to Spanish fishing vessels for access to French coastal bands, laid down in point 6 of Annex I to that regulation, do not breach the principle of non-discrimination because such a purpose does not of itself entail the application of criteria of reciprocity between Member States and because those arrangements do no more than extend the arrangements that have been in force since the Kingdom of Spain acceded to the Community.
(see paras 45, 50-51, 54-55)