A crisis meeting between Boris Johnson and Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Rome led to different representations of what was said on Sunday.

While the French President announced that “operational measures” had been agreed to overcome the heated dispute over fishing licenses, this was denied by officials of the British Prime Minister: It was up to France to withdraw its threats, it said.

Jochen Buchsteiner

Political correspondent in London.

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Johnson had previously asked the EU to intervene against France - and Paris for an "explanation" for a letter to the EU Commission.

According to the Politico online portal, which saw the letter, French Prime Minister Jean Castex wrote to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that "it must be demonstrated that it is more harmful to leave the EU than to stay in it".

The French letter confirms the British government's reading that Paris is not arguing on the matter, but is escalating the conflict over the reorganized fishing licenses after Britain's exit from the EU for political reasons.

The British make a comparison with Putin

Paris has been complaining for months that the British authorities have withheld fishing licenses from French cutters.

London assures that it approved 98 percent of all license requests and only rejected unauthorized applicants.

On Wednesday, France threatened to ban British cutters from docking on Tuesday and to also increase controls on trucks at the Eurotunnel.

Paris has also brought up the lever for the French energy supply to the British Channel Islands, which could lead to an increase in electricity charges.

The latter in particular provoked indignation in London.

The politicization of the energy supply has so far been associated more with the world of Vladimir Putin than with a close ally, it said.

The British called on Brussels to intervene because France's actions concern the EU as a whole. In a conversation with von der Leyen, Johnson "emphasized that the French threats are completely unjustified and arguably not only incompatible with the trade treaty, but also with other international law," said a government spokesman. Government sources were quoted in newspapers that drew a bow to the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol. One had to assume that the negotiations on the problems of the Withdrawal Treaty of France would not be conducted “in good faith”.

For London, the attitude of France is a welcome occasion to turn the tables.

So far it had been the British who had been criticized by the EU for lacking compliance with the treaty.

The Sunday Telegraph reported that the government is currently in intense discussion about countermeasures should France follow through on its threats.

This includes the implementation of the official dispute mechanism provided for in the trade agreement with the EU.

At the same time, trade flows are to be increasingly handled via ports in Belgium and the Netherlands in order to "reduce the potential influence of France if it wants to cause disruptions".

Allegedly, large sums are to be made available to expand the capacities of alternative ports and to create incentives to divert traffic away from Calais.