SNP Demands Fisheries Removal From European Constitution – Fishupdate.com

SNP Demands Fisheries Removal From European Constitution Fishing Monthly Published:  27 May, 2003

THE SNP in the European Parliament has reacted with dismay at the inclusion of fisheries matters as an area of exclusive EU competence in the proposed European Constitution, published yesterday (26th May).

SNP Euro-MPs Neil MacCormick MEP, member of the Convention on the Future of Europe, and Ian Hudghton MEP have vowed to fight for the removal of the clause relating to “the conservation of marine biological resources under the CFP” from the list of exclusive EU powers. The only other exclusive powers relate to monetary policy, commercial policy and customs union.

Mr Hudghton commented: “The EU’s management of fish stocks over the last twenty years has been an unmitigated disaster. To suggest that Brussels should now have exclusive control enshrined in a constitution is madness – particularly at a time when the number of land-locked nations in the EU is set to rise.

“It has been universally accepted that the way forward for fisheries management is for there to be more localised and regional control. Today’s draft Constitution is therefore a step in the wrong direction.

“The SNP intend to fight this proposal tooth and nail and I will be raising the matter in the European Parliament. Scotland’s fisheries management should be under the control of the Scottish Parliament – not under the remote control of land-locked Brussels.”