EU near deal on Spanish fish armada

huge Spanish and Portuguese armada into British waters, despite

objections of the home fleet.

However, the British team -- led by Mr William Waldegrave, Agriculture

Minister, Fisheries Minister Mr Michael Jack, and Sir Hector Monro from

the Scottish Office -- were putting up a strong defence of the Irish Box

conservation area, where the Spanish are excluded but are seeking entry

from January 1, 1996.

Talks were expected to continue through last night and possibly

through tonight as Ministers sought a politically-based solution to the

vexed question of how to absorb the vast Spanish fleet -- three times

the size of all other EU fishing fleets put together -- into the

community's common fisheries policy (CFP).

Failure to agree could mean a bitter war in the fishing grounds in

1996.

Mr Jack talked of a deal decided by Ministers in the council and not

one simply recommended by the European Commission, which has been

accused of leaning too heavily towards the Spanish.

He told reporters during a late break in talks: ''We are concerned

about the Irish Box -- and the Irish Minister is with us all the way.''

He said that despite German Chancellor Helmut Kohl's promises at this

month's Essen summit to back Spain, there remained a need for an

enforceable policy, ''otherwise it will carry no credibility with our

own fishermen''.

Mr Jack, flanked by Sir Hector, added: ''I think the will is

definitely there for a deal. But it is evident we are unlikely to go

into very fine detail.''

He said the Spanish were ''camping on the grounds of principle'' -- a

reference to Spain's long insistence that as new members of the CFP,

they should not be subject to any discrimination.

However, treating the Spanish -- who have a dreadful record of

ignoring quotas and breaking rules -- as equals does not square with the

British, French, and Irish demands that there must be no increase in the

total fishing effort in Western Waters, and that ''relative stability''

in the fishing grounds must be maintained.

Sir Hector is said to have denied reports from British Government

sources that it expected up to 80 Spanish vessels to sail into the Irish

Box, which ceases to exist officially at the end of next year and, if

the UK has its way, will be replaced by some other form of conservation

area.

The Spanish, however, have said they expect up to 70 of their ships to

be given access to the fringe areas of the box, most of them in

southerly areas.

Spain has 1700 vessels in its fleet, of which 220 will, in theory, be

admitted to Western Waters -- west of a line through Britain from

Scrabster to Plymouth -- in 1996. None would be allowed within the

12-mile limit.

A final decision could be taken by qualified majority voting in the

council, which means that objecting states would need 23 votes to block

the Iberians. Britain would need the support of France and the Irish to

find a blocking minority. Without the support of either, the UK would

simply be outvoted and would have to accept any decision reached by the

others.

Meanwhile, Ministers agreed to generally unchanged fish catch quotas

for 1995, despite proposals for reductions to ease pressure on shrinking

stocks, EU officials said.