Paris raises the tone. After weeks of tension, France announced on Friday that it would ask the European Commission to initiate post-Brexit litigation against the United Kingdom to obtain a number of fishing licenses.
“In the coming days, we will ask the European Commission to initiate a legal procedure for the licenses to which we are entitled, which are the highest priority, the most important”, declared the Secretary of State for European Affairs Clément Beaune to the ‘resulting from a meeting between French fishermen, elected officials from the regions concerned and President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace.
A first since Brexit
“We will ask the European Commission in the next few days to convene the Partnership Council, which is provided for by the Brexit agreement when there is a problem – it is a political body, we have never met to the moment – to tell the British that this is a European problem, that they are not 100% respecting the agreement and therefore that we must have this continuing political pressure, ”explained Clément Beaune.
The Minister of the Sea Annick Girardin specified that there remained “73 licenses still pending”, promising that France would continue to discuss with London and the authorities of the Channel Islands “to try to extract” the authorizations “license by license ”. Noting that some fishermen will not have permission to work in British waters, the ministers reaffirmed that no one would be left by the wayside, now raising the issue of compensation.
Appointment of an “accompanying person”
“The president wants us to be precise in terms of supporting fishermen (who will not have had a license), and that we do something hand-sewn, case by case, basin by basin” , declared Annick Girardin, indicating that a “Mr. accompanying person” would be “appointed in the coming week”.
Under the agreement signed at the end of 2020 between London and Brussels, European fishermen can continue to work in British waters provided they can prove that they have previously fished there. But for more than eleven months, the French and the British have been arguing over the nature and extent of the supporting documents to be provided.
Outside the Mediterranean, around a quarter of French catches in volume (around 20% in value) come from British waters, which are rich in fish and which are the source of 650 million euros in annual sales for EU fishermen.
Post-Brexit fishing: Representatives of the profession received Friday by Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee
Post-Brexit fishing: London announces 23 additional licenses to the French
