Responding to a referral from a British court, the Court adopted an interpretation preserving the validity of the instruments examined while excluding those waters from their scope. Describing the judgment as a blanket annulment of all fisheries cooperation would therefore be inaccurate.
The decision extends the territorial-scope issue addressed in 2016 to a different instrument and access to marine resources. It requires a distinction between the agreement then in force, fishing authorizations and agreements negotiated later. It does not itself determine the political settlement of the dispute.