Thomas Appleby

Senior Lecturer in Law

University of the West of England, Bristol

What happens when an irresistibleforce meets an immovable object?

The Fishery Paradox

• Article 3 (1) (d) Consolidated Treaties Exclusive competence to EU for common fisheries policy

• Article (4) (2) (e) Shared competence between EU and member state for environment

Competence Creep

The sublimity of administration consists in knowing the proper degree of power

that should be exerted on different occasions

Charles de Montesqieu

Central problem

Quis custodes ipsos custodiet?

Appeals Mechanisms

• Exclusive Competence – Very little avenue for

judicial challenges to CFP

• Shared Competence– Member States Courts– DG Environment– European Court of

Justice

The ecosystem approach

Is this fisheries management or environmental management?

The Habitats Directive

Darwin Mounds

Request by a member state to close area agreed to

Regulation (EC 602/2004)

No systematic adherence to EU environmental directives

• Fishing boats licensed to fish throughout EU waters without reference to protected sites

• No clear guidance in proposed regulation on Marine Strategy Framework Directive

• Historic rights in territorial waters

Key problem

Member states rather than EU liable to judicial review / infraction for breach of

environmental law

Conclusion:Two questions

• Which industry is the only industry in the UK where EU environmental law has not been fully applied?

• Which industry is the only industry to benefit from a healthier marine environment?