Mr Home Roberston, the MSP for East Lothian, will represent Scottish fishing interests at a meeting in Luxembourg.

The British delegation will be led by the UK Fishing Minister, Elliot Morley.

John Home Robertson: Historic meeting

However, ministerial sources said Mr Home Robertson is likely to lead the negotiations at some stage because of the importance of the Scottish industry.

The Scottish National Party said it refused to accept that a Westminster minister should lead a fishing delegation from Britain when most of the industry is north of the border.

The party said the meeting would be a real test for the executive and has challenged Mr Home Robertson to be a strong voice for the Scottish industry.

Nationalist fisheries spokesman, Richard Lochhead MSP, said that two thirds of the British industry is in Scotland, and fishing is "10 times more important" north of the border.

Mr Lochhead called on Scottish ministers to lead European talks as a matter of course.