FRANCE: The European Commission has ordered France to pay a €57 million penalty for failing to comply with a European court ruling to upgrade its fisheries control systems.
The commission said it was imposing the fine because France had not yet taken all the "necessary steps to comply fully with the obligations" set out in a July 2005 ruling by the European Court of Justice.
The ruling concerned failings in France's fisheries control system and the sanctions applied for breaches of European Union rules on landing and marketing immature fish.
France said yesterday it would appeal the ruling. "We think this decision is disproportionate and unfair and intend to go back to court in a bid to have it cancelled," said a spokesman for the French representation to the EU.
The commission said France had made progress in complying with the ruling but could not yet be regarded as having fully complied with the judgment.
It said France would have to make a penalty payment of €57 million for every six-month period from the July 2005 judgment until it complied with the court's ruling. It was already fined €20 million by the court at the time of the judgement.
Minister for Marine Noel Dempsey has warned that Ireland could face large EU fines unless it tightened up its fishing control systems and sanctions for illegal fishing.