Tensions between the UK and France over post-Brexit fishing licenses are taking a new turn.

France will announce retaliatory measures very soon, part of which will come into force on Tuesday, November 2, unless British policy changes by then, government spokesman Gabriel Attal announced on Wednesday October 27.

The first of these measures will apply from November 2, namely "systematic customs and sanitary controls on products landed (in France) and the ban on unloading of seafood", "with controls on trucks, ”he said.

>> Post-Brexit fishing licenses: France issues an ultimatum to the United Kingdom

The government spokesperson also referred to "a second series of measures", "including energy measures relating to the supply of electricity for the Channel Islands".

The details must be "communicated in the next few hours or days".

"Our wish is quite simply that the agreement which has been concluded can be respected," said Gabriel Attal, who was speaking at the end of the Council of Ministers.

About 50

% missing licenses

France will not "let Britain wipe its feet on the Brexit deal," he insisted.

"What we are seeing today is that almost 50% of the licenses to which we are entitled are missing. It is a situation which is not acceptable and I say it clearly, our patience is reaching its limits", he stressed again.

The 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 previously.

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 (zone of 6-12 miles from the British coasts and the Channel Islands), London and Jersey have thus granted a total of just over 200 definitive licenses, while Paris is still asking for 244.

With AFP

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