Brussels, 19/10/2004 (Agence Europe) - During Monday's Agriculture-Fisheries Council, the European Commission sounded out Member States on how to successfully conclude negotiations with Norway on setting commonly managed annual Total Allowed Catches (TAC) in the North Sea, as well as quota exchanges between the two parties. Negotiations have proved extremely difficult this year, given the low levels of halibut and capelin stocks in Norwegian waters in exchange for cod fishing rights granted to Community ships (Danish and British especially, but also French, German, Irish, Spanish, Portuguese and Greek). The second round of negotiations will be between 15-19 November. The most likely option will be to offer Norwegians other stocks of halibut and capelin but European fisheries ministers are divided on the choice of this "exchange currency". Norway wants to be able to access Community stocks of mackerel, halibut and shrimp. The United Kingdom agrees on Greenland shrimps but not for mackerel (like Ireland). Denmark does not want to give up its part of the shrimp quota and France considers that other solutions will be needed other than supplementary quotas of mackerel and shrimp (France and Denmark share a shrimp quota of 4000 tonnes from Greenland waters). The Council's fisheries working group and the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper) are responsible for pursuing work on this difficult case and aim to reach an agreement on how the Commission should conduct discussions with Norway in November.