Brussels - The European Union's executive body on Wednesday called for a complete overhaul of the bloc's bitterly controversial fisheries policy, setting up a potential clash with member states.

"Short-term decision-making, coupled with irresponsible behaviour by certain parts of the industry, continue to penalize those fishermen who act for the common good. The result is a vicious circle which has undermined both the ecological balance of our oceans and the economic profitability of the sector," the European Commission said in a statement.

The commission "therefore proposes that a full review of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) should be launched immediately, in order to prepare the ground for a major reform of the institutional framework of European fisheries management," the statement said.

The CFP has long been one of the EU's most controversial policies. Fishermen say that it does not allow them to make a living, while environmentalists say that it has destroyed Europe's fish stocks.

And the commission, whose task it is to enforce the policy's quotas, says that member states regularly breach catch quotas, while member states complain that the quotas are too low.

In 2002, EU member states agreed a hard-fought reform of the CFP, introducing long-term planning and measures to fight illegal fishing.

But commission officials say that the most serious structural problems remain, especially the fact that the EU's fishing fleet is currently so big that it can catch up to three times more fish than Europe's seas can provide.

Furthermore, "fishermen must be made responsible and accountable for the sustainable use of a public resource," while "the goal of ecological sustainability must be placed before economic and social sustainability, since it is the precondition which makes them possible," the statement said.

EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg is therefore set to discuss the issue with EU fisheries ministers at a meeting on September 29. If the ministers back his call for a full review, he will make a formal proposal in early 2009, the statement said.

However, the call for reform is likely to provoke a stormy debate in Europe, as it looks certain to re-ignite the ongoing row between environmental and pro-fishing lobbies. (dpa)