Channel sea fishing: Paris announces retaliatory measures against London
Fishing rights were one of the toughest friction points in the Brexit deal.
REUTERS - PASCAL ROSSIGNOL
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
The government is carrying out its threats in the face of London's restriction on the number of licenses allowing French fishermen to access British waters.
"Ban on disembarkation", "customs controls" increased: France announced the entry into force next Tuesday of a first round of retaliatory measures against London and the Channel Islands if the British do not change its policy of here until next week.
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The government has decided to ban from November 2 the arrival of British seafood in France.
A measure that strikes British fishermen because 80% of seafood from the United Kingdom is intended for export.
France is the first recipient country within the European Union.
In the evening, a joint statement from the French Ministry of the Sea and the Secretariat for European Affairs clarified the measures: "
ban on landing British fishing vessels in designated ports
", that is to say the six French ports where disembarkation is currently taking place, as well as a "
tightening of
sanitary, customs and safety
controls
" on British ships.
A second series of measures is being prepared, "in
particular energy measures which relate to the supply of electricity for the Channel Islands
".
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 before. But the French and the British argue over the nature and extent of the supporting documents to be provided.
In fishing areas still contested (zone 6-12 miles of the British coast and Channel Islands), London and Jersey granted a total of just over 210 permanent licenses, while Paris still calling 244. "
missing almost 50% of the licenses to which we are entitled,
”insisted Gabriel Attal. On the British side, Boris Johnson's government spokesman puts forward a very different figure: "
98% of fishing licenses have been granted
".
"
The threats from France are disappointing and disproportionate, and do not correspond to what one might expect from a close ally and partner
," reacted a spokesman for the British government on Tuesday evening, saying that they were "
not compatible
”with the post-Brexit agreement and international law.
If these threats are "
applied, they will be the subject of an appropriate and calibrated response
," he warns.
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