Regulating access under the European Common Fisheries Policy. An Incremental Move towards the International Legal Framework.

TheEuropean Common Ficheries Policy (CFP) was conceived and applied in function of the fundamental 'freedoms' enshrined in the EEC treaty. It was a continuation of a 'European' high seas regime, although international developments went into the opposite direction by conventionally agreeing that States enjoy sovereign rights in a vast area beyond their coasts. Such Community regime was not tenable. Consequently, the acces provisions were adapted to the benefit of the coastal Memeber States. A legal analysis of the CFPaccess and governance regime reveals that there is clear trend towards a further re-nationalisation of fishing grounds and de-communitarisation of fisheries governance.
It is advocated in this PhD that the European legal regime has moved towards the international legal framework. Consequently, the seemingly opposing concepts of ocean governance are appeased. Particular attention is given to the central role of sovereignty in the structuring of the international and European fisheries regime. Secondly, the important role of the European Court of Justice in this transformationprocess, both as an impetus and constraint for the development of the CFP, is examined.