Comisión de las Comunidades Europeas contra Reino Unido.

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• Court: Court of Justice (European Union)
• Writing for the Court: Kakouris
• ECLI: ECLI:EU:C:1992:439
• Date: 17 November 1992
• Docket Number: C-279/89
• Procedure Type: Recours en constatation de manquement - irrecevable

Avis juridique important

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61989J0279

Judgment of the Court of 17 November 1992. - Commission of the European Communities v United Kingdom. - Fisheries - Licences - Conditions. - Case C-279/89.

European Court reports 1992 Page I-05785

Summary
Parties
Grounds
Decision on costs
Operative part

Keywords

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1. Fisheries ° Common structural policy ° Conservation of the resources of the sea ° System of fishing quotas ° Regulation by a Member State of the use of its quotas ° Grant of licences ° Conditions designed to ensure genuine economic link between vessels and the State concerned ° Compulsory pursuit of fishing activities from national ports ° Evidence ° Unloading of part of catches and periodic presence of the vessel in national ports ° Whether permissible ° Conditions

(Council Regulations Nos 101/76, 2057/82, 170/83 and 172/83)

2. Accession of new Member States to the Communities ° Spain ° Portugal ° Freedom of movement for persons ° Freedom of establishment ° Freedom to provide services ° Discrimination on grounds of nationality ° Prohibition ° Workers ° Derogations ° Prohibition of new restrictions concerning access to employment ° Obligation to respect rights held previously as member of the family of a worker ° Restrictions concerning employment on board fishing vessels ° Exclusion of Spanish and Portuguese nationals in calculating minimum proportion of Community nationals in crews of vessels holding a licence ° Not permissible

(EEC Treaty, Arts 48, 52 and 59; Act of Accession 1985, Arts 55, 56, 215 and 216; Council Regulation No 1612/68, Art. 11; Commission Regulation No 1251/70)

3. Fisheries ° Common structural policy ° Conservation of the resources of the sea ° System of fishing quotas ° Regulation by a Member State of the use of its quotas ° Grant of licences ° Conditions designed to ensure genuine economic link between vessels and the State concerned ° Composition of crews of vessels registered in that State ° Requirement to reside ashore in the Member State concerned ° Not permissible

(EEC Treaty, Arts 48, 52 and 59)

Summary

1. Community law does not preclude a Member State, in authorizing one of its vessels to fish against national quotas, from laying down the condition that the vessel is to operate from national ports, if that condition does not involve an obligation for the vessel to depart from a national port on all its fishing trips, or from accepting, as evidence of compliance with the condition that the vessel must operate from national ports, only the landing of a specified proportion of the vessel' s catches or a specified periodic presence of the vessel in national ports, provided that the frequency with which the vessel is required to be present in those ports does not impose, directly or indirectly, an obligation to land the vessel' s catches in national ports or hinder normal fishing operations.

2. By excluding Spanish and Portuguese nationals working as self-employed fishermen from the 75% of the crew of a vessel flying its flag which, in order that a fishing licence to fish against the national quota may be issued, must be composed of its nationals or nationals of other Member States, a Member State discriminates against those Spanish and Portuguese nationals on grounds of nationality and thereby infringes, according to the case, Article 52 or Article 59 of the Treaty.

By excluding in the same way those same nationals where they are employed fishermen, the Member State also infringes Article 48 of the Treaty, since, in the case of restrictions which did not exist prior to the accession of Spain and Portugal, it fails to comply with the standstill clause in Articles 56(1) and 216(1) of the Act of Accession of 1985, or, in the case of the application of those restrictions to the Spanish or Portuguese members of the families of nationals of other Member States, it fails to respect the rights derived by them from Regulation No 1612/68 or Regulation No 1251/70 irrespective of the transitional provisions of the Act of Accession of 1985.

3. By requiring that Community nationals who must, in order that a licence to fish against the national quota may be issued, make up at least 75% of the crew of a fishing vessel flying its flag reside ashore on its territory, a Member State fails to fulfil its obligations under Articles 48, 52 and 59 of the Treaty, since such a requirement constitutes discrimination on grounds of nationality against nationals of other Member States.

Parties

In Case C-279/89,

Commission of the European Communities, represented by Robert Fischer, Legal Adviser, and Peter Oliver, of its Legal Service, acting as Agents, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the office of Roberto Hayder, of its Legal Service, Wagner Centre, Kirchberg,

applicant,

supported by

Kingdom of Spain, represented initially by Javier Conde de Saro, then by Alberto José Navarro Gonzalez, Director General for Community Legal and Institutional Coordination, and by Rosario Silva de Lapuerta, State Attorney in the Legal Department for Matters before the Court of Justice, acting as Agents, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the Spanish Embassy, 4-6 Boulevard Emmanuel Servais,

intervener,

v

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, represented initially by Rosemary Caudwell, then by S. Cochrane, of the Treasury Solicitor' s Department, acting as Agent, assisted by Christopher Bellamy QC and Christopher Vajda, Barrister, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the British Embassy, 14 Boulevard Roosevelt,

defendant,

APPLICATION for a declaration that, by imposing certain fishing licence conditions, the United Kingdom has failed to fulfil its obligations under Articles 34, 48, 52 and 59 of the EEC Treaty, under Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68 of the Council of 15 October 1968 on freedom of movement for workers within the Community (OJ, English Special Edition 1968 (II), p. 475), under Council Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 of 14 June 1971 on the application of social security schemes to employed persons, to self-employed persons and to members of their families moving within the Community, as amended and updated by Council Regulation (EEC) No 2001/83 (OJ 1983 L 230, p. 8) and under Regulation (EEC) No 1251/70 of the Commission of 29 June 1970 on the right of workers to remain in the territory of a Member State after having been employed in that State (OJ, English Special Edition 1970 (II), p. 402),

THE COURT,

composed of: O. Due, President, C.N. Kakouris, G.C. Rodríguez Iglesias, M. Zuleeg and J.L. Murray, (Presidents of Chambers), G.F. Mancini, R. Joliet, F. Schockweiler, J.C. Moitinho de Almeida, F. Grévisse and D.A.O. Edward, Judges,

Advocate General: C. Gulmann,

Registrar: D. Triantafyllou, Administrator,

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