TO CONSIDER SEPARATELY ON THE ONE HAND THE QUESTION OF THE COMPATIBILITY WITH COMMUNITY LAW OF THE ADOPTION OF THE FIVE STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS DISPUTED BY THE COMMISSION AND ON THE OTHER THE FISHERIES SITUATION IN THE IRISH SEA AND THE WATERS ROUND THE ISLE OF MAN , WHICH RAISES SPECIAL LEGAL PROBLEMS .
THE STATE OF THE LAW AT THE TIME IN QUESTION
17 THE COURT HAS HAD OCCASION TO RECALL IN FORMER JUDGMENTS AND MOST RECENTLY IN ITS JUDGMENT OF 10 JULY 1980 , TO WHICH REFERENCE HAS ALREADY BEEN MADE , THE ELEMENTS OF COMMUNITY LAW WHICH ARE APPLICABLE IN THIS MATTER . THE SITUATION DESCRIBED IN THOSE JUDGMENTS HAS IN THE MEANTIME UNDERGONE A SUBSTANTIAL CHANGE BY REASON OF THE FACT THAT SINCE THE EXPIRATION ON 1 JANUARY 1979 OF THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD LAID DOWN BY ARTICLE 102 OF THE ACT OF ACCESSION , POWER TO ADOPT , AS PART OF THE COMMON FISHERIES POLICY , MEASURES RELATING TO THE CONSERVATION OF THE RESOURCES OF THE SEA HAS BELONGED FULLY AND DEFINITIVELY TO THE COMMUNITY .
18 MEMBER STATES ARE THEREFORE NO LONGER ENTITLED TO EXERCISE ANY POWER OF THEIR OWN IN THE MATTER OF CONSERVATION MEASURES IN THE WATERS UNDER THEIR JURISDICTION . THE ADOPTION OF SUCH MEASURES , WITH THE RESTRICTIONS WHICH THEY IMPLY AS REGARDS FISHING ACTIVITIES , IS A MATTER , AS FROM THAT DATE , OF COMMUNITY LAW . AS THE COMMISSION HAS RIGHTLY POINTED OUT , THE RESOURCES TO WHICH THE FISHERMEN OF THE MEMBER STATES HAVE AN EQUAL RIGHT OF ACCESS MUST HENCEFORTH BE SUBJECT TO THE RULES OF COMMUNITY LAW .
19 IT IS IN THE LIGHT OF THIS POSITION OF PRINCIPLE THAT THE LEGAL SITUATION MUST BE ASSESSED . IT IS CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT , IN A MATTER IN WHICH THE POWERS ARE IN THE HANDS OF THE COMMUNITY , THE COUNCIL HAS NOT ADOPTED , WITHIN THE REQUIRED PERIODS , THE CONSERVATION MEASURES REFERRED TO BY ARTICLE 102 OF THE ACT OF ACCESSION .
20 ON THIS SUBJECT IT IS APPROPRIATE TO STRESS , FIRST OF ALL , THAT THE TRANSFER TO THE COMMUNITY OF POWERS IN THIS MATTER BEING TOTAL AND DEFINITIVE , SUCH A FAILURE TO ACT COULD NOT IN ANY CASE RESTORE TO THE MEMBER STATES THE POWER AND FREEDOM TO ACT UNILATERALLY IN THIS FIELD .
21 IT FOLLOWS , AS HAS BEEN STATED BY THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT , THAT IN THE ABSENCE OF PROVISIONS ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FORMS AND PROCEDURES PRESCRIBED BY THE TREATY , THE CONSERVATION MEASURES AS THEY EXISTED AT THE END OF THE PERIOD REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 102 OF THE ACT OF ACCESSION ARE MAINTAINED IN THE STATE IN WHICH THEY WERE AT THE TIME OF THE EXPIRATION OF THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD LAID DOWN BY THAT PROVISION .
22 HOWEVER , IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO EXTEND THAT IDEA TO THE POINT OF MAKING IT ENTIRELY IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE MEMBER STATES