This Thursday, the French National Fisheries Committee announced the blocking, on Friday, of access to three Channel ports and to the Channel tunnel for goods. This day of action is presented as “a wake-up call” to demand the rapid granting by the United Kingdom of post-Brexit fishing licenses.
The fishermen will block the arrival of ferries at sea in three ports in the Channel: Saint-Malo, Ouistreham and Calais. On land, they will also block the access of freight trucks to the Channel Tunnel freight terminal for “a few hours,” said Gérard Romiti, the president of the national committee at a press conference. “We don’t want handouts, we just want our licenses back,” he said.
“Piss off the English economy”
A few days ago, the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, assured the French National Fisheries Committee of its support, counting in particular on the French presidency of the EU, from January 1, to “make your voice heard better French fishermen within Europe ”.
Nevertheless, at the end of a meeting with the Minister of the Sea, Annick Girardin, on Sunday, the fishermen had announced that they were going to demonstrate in a “targeted” manner to “piss off the English economy”.