“Landing ban”, increased “customs controls”… New retaliatory measures against London and the Channel Islands will be implemented by France next Tuesday, if the number of licenses granted to French fishermen remains insufficient.
At the end of the Council of Ministers on Wednesday, the decision fell: if no progress is made by the beginning of November, Paris has decided to “ban the landing of British seafood products” in France, “with controls on lorries ”, and the establishment of“ systematic customs and sanitary controls on (British) unloaded products ”.
“No formal contact” between Paris and London
Government spokesman Gabriel Attal also spoke of a gradual response, with a possible “second series of measures”, “including energy measures relating to the supply of electricity for the Channel Islands”. The details of these provisions will be “communicated in the next few hours or days,” he said. Reacting to the French threats, the spokesman for the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, replied that there had been “no formal contact” with the French government on this point.
“It is important to stress that 98% of fishing licenses have been granted. We continue to work with the French government to grant more on the basis of the evidence it provides, ”he added, citing a figure that differs greatly from that brandished by the French. The fire had been smoldering for weeks: among the subjects of post-Brexit friction between Paris and London, that of fishing remains explosive, although it only concerns a relatively small number of players. In volume, British landings (around 3,000 tonnes in 2020 for 10.2 million euros) represent less than 5% of total British exports of fishery products to France.
An “unacceptable” situation
France will not “let Britain wipe its feet on the Brexit deal”, insisted the French government spokesman, repeating that Paris’ only wish was that the agreement reached “can be respected. “. Post-Brexit agreement concluded in extremis at the end of 2020 between London and Brussels, provides that European fishermen can continue to work in certain British waters provided they can prove that they were fishing there before. But the French and the British argue over the nature and extent of the supporting documents to be provided.
In the still disputed fishing zones (6-12 miles from the British coasts and the Channel Islands), London and Jersey have granted a total of just over 210 definitive licenses, while Paris is still asking for 244. almost 50% of the licenses to which we are entitled. It is a situation which is not acceptable ”, hammered Gabriel Attal. For its part, London believes that most of the licenses that can be granted have been granted, and has rejected certain French requests – such as, for example, the files concerning changes in shipowners – which explains the differences in figures brandished by the two parts.
“At the top of the pile”
The French decision is “part of a European approach since we have at the same time seized the European Commission to have a first-floor dispute settlement meeting”, specified the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, at the Senate. The Minister of the Sea had warned that she wanted a comprehensive solution by November 1, since the island of Jersey gave a period of one month (until October 30) to some 70 French boats to provide new items and reopen their file.
As these vessels are currently on the red list, they will no longer be able to spawn in Jersey waters as of Monday. The situation is tense in the region of Boulogne-sur-Mer (Hauts-de-France), where dozens of fishermen have not been able to access British waters for months. Stéphane Pinto is in this case: “Since April, we have been at more than 50% of operating losses,” he said, believing that the State and the EU “should have reacted long ago”. On the Norman side, the president of the regional fisheries committee, Dimitri Rogoff, is satisfied to see the fishing subject “at the top of the pile” and warns that the fishermen will “harden their tone locally”.