To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will consider proposing measures to limit the voting powers of EU member states on matters concerning the North sea to nations with a coast on the North sea, as part of the common fisheries policy review. [34877]

I am committed to effective conservation and enforcement in all waters where European Community vessels fish. If voting rights were to be limited only to EU member states with a coastal interest, the UK's scope for influencing decisions on matters concerning waters where we do not have a coastline would be lost.