THE 6 TO 12 MILE-ZONE , BUT CONSIDERED THAT HE WAS AUTHORIZED TO FISH THERE BY THE GENERAL AGREEMENT ON FISHING CONCLUDED BETWEEN FRANCE AND SPAIN BY AN EXCHANGE OF NOTES ON 20 MARCH 1967 ( JOURNAL OFFICIEL DE LA REPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE OF 4 AUGUST 1967 , P . 7807 ), WHICH WAS STILL IN FORCE AT THE MATERIAL TIME .
4 UNDER THAT AGREEMENT SPANISH NATIONALS ' ' ENJOY A PERMANENT RIGHT TO FISH ' ' FOR ALL SPECIES IN THE AREA BETWEEN 6 AND 12 MILES OFF THE ATLANTIC COAST OF FRANCE , FROM THE MOUTH OF THE BIDASSOA TO THE PARALLEL WHICH PASSES THROUGH THE NORTHERNMOST PART OF BELLE-ILE . PARAGRAPH V OF THE AGREEMENT STATES THAT IT WAS CONCLUDED WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE VOISINAGE ARRANGEMENTS PROVIDED FOR IN THE LONDON FISHERIES CONVENTION OF 9 MARCH 1964 ( UNITED NATIONS TREATY SERIES , VOL . 581 , NO 8432 ), TO WHICH FRANCE AND SPAIN ARE PARTIES .
5 THE COUR D ' APPEL REJECTED THE ARGUMENT THAT REGULATION NO 2160/77 WAS NOT CONTRARY TO THE FRANCO-SPANISH AGREEMENT INASMUCH AS IT DID NOT PROHIBIT FISHING BY SPANISH VESSELS BUT MERELY REGULATED IT . THE COUR D ' APPEL HELD THAT , CONTRARY TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE LONDON CONVENTION , NOTICE HAD NOT BEEN GIVEN TO SPAIN OF THE ABOVE REGULATION BEFORE IT WAS ADOPTED , AND THAT IT VERY SEVERELY RESTRICTED SPANISH VESSELS ' FISHING RIGHTS AND DISCRIMINATED AGAINST THEM SINCE VESSELS OF COMMUNITY COUNTRIES WERE NOT REQUIRED TO HOLD A LICENCE .
6 IN HIS APPLICATION TO THE COURT DE CASSATION , THE PROCUREUR GENERAL ( PUBLIC PROSECUTOR ) AT THE COUR D ' APPEL , PAU , CONTENDED THAT UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THE LONDON CONVENTION AND THE FRANCO-SPANISH AGREEMENT FRANCE WAS ENTITLED TO REGULATE FISHING BY SPANISH VESSELS IN THE 6 TO 12-MILE ZONE AND THAT PROVISIONS FOR THAT PURPOSE HAD BEEN ADOPTED BY THE FRENCH DECREE OF 23 FEBRUARY 1968 ( JOURNAL OFFICIEL DE LA REPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE OF 3 MARCH 1968 , P . 2327 ). ACCORDING TO THE PROCUREUR GENERAL , THAT DECREE , WHICH IMPOSED NO LIMIT ON CATCHES , HAD BEEN REPEALED BY IMPLICATION BY THE COMMUNITY REGULATIONS CONCERNING THE CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF FISHERY RESOURCES APPLICABLE TO SPANISH VESSELS . THOSE REGULATIONS , WHICH HAD BEEN INCORPORATED INTO THE LAW OF THE MEMBER STATES , ESTABLISHED NEW PROVISIONS GOVERNING FISHING , WHICH RESTRICTED , BUT DID NOT ABOLISH , THE RIGHTS OF SPANISH FISHING VESSELS , BY FIXING QUOTAS AND REQUIRING LICENCES TO BE OBTAINED .
7 THE COUR DE CASSATION CONSIDERED THAT THERE WAS A SERIOUS DIFFERENCE OF VIEWS AS TO WHETHER , HAVING REGARD TO THE ABOVE-MENTIONED PRIOR INTERNATIONAL COMMITMENTS , THE COMMUNITY REGULATIONS WERE VALID AND WHETHER , IF VALID , THEY WERE ENFORCEABLE AGAINST SPANISH NATIONALS , IN SO FAR AS THEY LAID DOWN NEW DETAILED RULES FOR FISHING OPERATIONS BY SPANISH VESSELS IN THE FISHING ZONE BETWEEN 6 AND 12 NAUTICAL MILES