Paris (AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday evening that he was "not sure" that negotiations between the European Union and the United Kingdom will lead to "a comprehensive agreement by the end of the year", during a visit to the Paris Agricultural Show.

"I am not sure we will have a global agreement by the end of the year," said the head of state during a meeting with fishermen worried that Brexit deprives them of a large part of their livelihood.

"In any case, it will be tender because they (the British) are very hard," said Macron. "What we have achieved is that the fishery has not gone beyond the mandate, but there will be pressure" from the British.

Prime Minister "Boris Johnson has a card in hand, it's fishing, and with that, he will try to gain access to the market (European, editor's note)", said the head of state to representatives of fishermen, with whom he ended his visit to the Salon de l'Agriculture.

"In June, it will become tense, you will have to hold on to your troops, if you feel that there is incomprehension, we will come and explain ourselves on the spot," he told them.

The UK officially left the EU on January 31, entering a transition period which is expected to last until the end of 2020. The two sides have planned to negotiate a free trade agreement within this time.

British and Europeans must define an agreement on fishing regulating the access of European fishermen to British waters and vice versa, on June 30 for an application on January 1, 2021.

"Macron said we will have a partial agreement, because all the subjects cannot be dealt with, but on fishing it will be dealt with," a participant told AFP after the meeting with the fishermen.

European chief negotiator Michel Barnier has warned that a fisheries agreement would be "inseparable" from the trade agreement to be negotiated.

London, for its part, stressed that "regaining control" of the fish-rich waters of the United Kingdom was of prime importance, and that they should be accessible first to "British ships".

Fishermen from eight EU member states are highly dependent on British waters. The latter notably represent 30% of the turnover of French fishermen.

The British fishing fleet, on the other hand, does not have the capacity to cover all the quantities taken by European boats. In addition, the British need the European market for their seafood: the EU is the destination for 70% of their exports.

© 2020 AFP