A study from a group of legal experts finds it “crucial” how the shared competence between the EU and its member states implied in the new Lisbon Treaty is sorted out in practice.
ClientEarth, a London-based group of activist lawyers committed to environmental issues, notes that while the “old” community treaty did not explicitly mention a Common Fisheries Policy, the Lisbon Treaty, which took force on 1 January this year, stipulates for both that and a Common Agriculture Policy.
The new treaty furthermore provides the European Parliament with co-decision rights on most fisheries issues, but also detracts from the involvement of the EP in some aspects, the study concludes, and proceeds into a thorough analysis of that and other legal aspects.
To a great extent, it still remains to be worked out how the Lisbon Treaty will be applied, the resulting set of practices of great importance particularly in relation to the next Common Fisheries Policy reform, the study remarks.