EU fishermen may be barred from Norwegian waters next year after talks on fishing quotas with the non-EU member state collapsed over differences on the management of mackerel stocks.
The failure to reach an agreement heightens the stakes at next week's meeting of EU fisheries chiefs, when they will haggle over the contentious issue of permitted quotas of fish catches for 2010 in the 27-nation bloc.
"My impression is that the eventual impact of the failed negotiations with Norway is rather big and will be having a rather important impact on the council meeting next week," said an official of the Swedish EU Presidency.