asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will report on recent developments towards the satisfactory renegotiation of the common fisheries policy.

At the recent Anglo-German ministerial consultations in Bonn on 18th and 19th October, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and I discussed with our German colleagues the negotiations on the common fisheries policy. The main difficulties were identified and it was agreed that a determined effort should be made to resolve them in the Fisheries Council. There will probably be meetings of this council on 23rd–24th and 28th November. I have, therefore, decided to defer the introduction of the United Kingdom national measure applying a 70 mm mesh size for all nephrops fishing within United Kingdom fishery limits for the time being.