Brussels
FISHERIES Ministers were heading for a deal last night to allow the
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.
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