HC Deb 11 June 2003 vol 406 cc921-2W
Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is covered by the marine resources of the sea allocated to the exclusive competence of the EU by the draft EU constitution. [117727]

Mr. MacShane

"The conservation of marine biological resources under the Common Fisheries Policy", is allocated to the exclusive competence of the EU by the draft EU Constitutional Treaty. This concept is set out in Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 of 20 December 2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries Policy, which provides, inter alia, for "coherent measures concerning conservation, management and exploitation of living aquatic resources."

"Living aquatic resources" is further defined as "available and accessible living marine aquatic species, including anadromous (those that migrate up rivers from the sea to breed) and catadromous (those that migrate down rivers to the sea to breed) species during their marine life."