§ Mr. HarrisTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement in respect of the judgment by the European Court of Justice in case C48/93—Factortame III. [19554]
§ Mr. Douglas HoggThe judgment of the European Court of Justice in case 48/93 was delivered earlier today and runs to 22 pages. The court concluded that the principle that member states are obliged to make good damage caused to individuals by breaches of Community law attributable to the state is applicable where the national legislature was responsible for the breach in question and where the breach is sufficiently serious. The court also concluded that it will be for the national courts to decide whether such a breach has occurred and what damages if any are payable.
These conclusions and the court's judgment will be the subject of detailed scrutiny in the weeks ahead.
The judgment is a stage in the action brought by Factortame Ltd. and others in the UK divisional court against Her Majesty's Government for damages in respect of the losses incurred during the period they were excluded from the UK fishing vessel register and unable to fish. In considering this action the UK divisional court asked for guidance from the European Court as to whether in principle member states are liable to pay damages for losses arising from measures which were held in breach of treaty obligations. It will be for the Factortame applicants to decide whether and how to proceed with their action for damages before the UK courts.
§ Mr. HarrisTo ask the Minster of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action the Government plan to take at the intergovernmental conference to deal with quota hopping; and if he will make a statement [19555]
§ Mr. HoggThere is an inconsistency underlying the quota regime of the common fisheries policy in that the quotas allocated to each member state do not always benefit the fishing communities of that member state. This is because the eligibility for quotas and their administration by member states has to take full account of general treaty provisions, for example, on right of 131W establishment and freedom of movement. This has undermined the benefit which the UK fishing industry has been able to secure from the fishing opportunities available to it under the common fisheries policy. We shall be pursuing this. In particular, we shall be exploring at the IGC whether there are treaty changes which could be made which would help to ensure that the fishing opportunities arising form national quotas provide real benefits to the fishing communities of the flag member state.