§ Baroness Davidasked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the outcome of the Fisheries Council held in Luxembourg on 26 October. [HL4445]
§ Baroness HaymanThe Fisheries Council met in Luxembourg on 26 October. My honourable friend the Parliamentary Secretary represented the UK together with John Home Robertson, Deputy Minister for Rural Affairs in the Scottish Executive.
The Council had extensive discussions on two draft regulations. The first, revising the market regime for fish and aquaculture products, and the second, reforming the structural funds in the fisheries sector in the context of Agenda 2000. My honourable friend the Parliamentary Secretary stressed that the fishing sector needed to be economically, as well as biologically, sustainable and that this needed to be reflected in the market and structural measures to be applied. It did not make sense to sustain excessive capacity in relation to the available fish stocks; and import arrangements needed to be adjusted to meet the actual market circumstances. The Council will resume discussion on both proposals at its next meeting on 22 November.
The Commission reported that it hoped to take up contacts with Morocco shortly to begin negotiations on a successor agreement to the current EC-Morocco Agreement, which expires on 30 November. The Commission also introduced the findings of an independent study it had commissioned on the costs and benefits of third country fisheries agreements, which will now be examined in detail. There was an initial discussion of a draft Council regulation on improving the dialogue with the industry. This was remitted for further examination.