The end of quota-hopping could boost Britain's share of the catch

New Deal May End Quota-hopping

European Commission officials told the BBC the deal would prevent foreign fishermen buying up British fishing rights. An agreement on the issue would avoid a major rift between Britain and the rest of Europe at the EU summit, although any announcement of such a deal could be delayed until after the summit.

Intense negotiations are continuing behind the scenes in the hope of honouring Commission President Jacques Santer's first pledge to Prime Minister Tony Blair when they met in Holland in May.

Mr Blair has made it clear he expects a change in EU rules which currently allow foreign vessels to trawl UK fish catch quotas.

Although he has not threatened to block accords on further Euro-integration to get his way, the Prime Minister has left little doubt that a successful Amsterdam summit could depend on resolving a dispute which has infuriated MPs and fishermen alike.

The row began under the Tory government, when the European Court of Justice declared legal the practice of foreign-owned and foreign-crewed boats - mostly Spanish - buying up UK fishing licences and landing fish catch quotas allocated to the UK by Brussels in foreign ports.

About 80 Spanish trawlermen are now suing the Government for the time they were prevented from fishing in UK waters until judges overturned British legislation designed to stop the fish going abroad.

More boats could have English-speaking skippers

The Commission has no intention of outlawing quota-hopping, arguing that it is part and parcel of a single market. But the compromise package would tighten the rules to tie trawlers more closely to local industry.

Officials believe existing laws can be used to squeeze the quota-hoppers, forcing them to land up to half their catches here and employ a mainly UK resident crew, and a captain who's first language is English. The aim is to bring catches - and jobs - back to Britain.

Ironically, the moves will restore the principles of the legislation the last government introduced to curb the practice - legislation which was outlawed by the European Court as discriminatory.

The Commission is now determined to demonstrate goodwill towards the new Government, and many EU officials privately sympathise with ministers' complaints that to allocate national fishing quotas and then claim they can be used by non-national trawlers is a nonsense.

If a deal can be done in time for the Amsterdam summit, Mr Blair will have a ready-made prize to bring home - but he will be under serious pressure to soften his tough tone on social policy and more powers for Brussels and sign up to a revised EU Treaty which is more than just a token gesture towards further European integration.