The discussion on fishing “will continue on Tuesday” with the British, announces Emmanuel Macron

Despite the cordial smiles at the G20 and at the COP26, the post-Brexit arm wrestling party continues on the fishery between Boris Johnson and Emmanuel Macron, who gave up applying sanctions at midnight to “give a chance” to the discussions which will continue on Tuesday.

“It is not while we are negotiating that we will impose sanctions”, the French president told the press on the sidelines of the COP26 in Glasgow (United Kingdom). “The discussion will continue tomorrow” Tuesday. “The next few hours are important hours” and “I understood that the British would come back to us tomorrow with other proposals,” assured Emmanuel Macron.

Give discussions a “chance”

The French president said he “trusted British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to take seriously” the French proposals and so that the discussions lead to a “result”. “For 10 months, the results were too slow, if this new method allows to have a result, I would like it to be given a chance”, he added.

Emmanuel Macron and Boris Johnson exchanged long minutes smiling in front of the cameras during the arrival of Emmanuel Macron at the COP26 in Glasgow (United Kingdom) on Monday. Paris had again brandished Monday morning the application of sanctions from midnight if London did not grant more licenses to French fishermen. The French are threatening to ban British fishing vessels from unloading their cargo in French ports and to tighten customs controls on all trucks if London does not grant more licenses to French fishermen.

“Within 48 hours”

For her part, British Foreign Minister Liz Truss on Monday morning called on Sky News for the French government to withdraw its threats “completely unreasonable, including against the Channel Islands and our fishing industry”. In the absence of a solution “within 48 hours”, the head of diplomacy said the British government would rely on the dispute settlement mechanism under the post-Brexit trade agreement to request “compensatory measures”.

London has warned that it is also preparing to strengthen controls on European fishing boats. This is what worries fishermen, said Monday Olivier Leprêtre, President of the regional committee for maritime fisheries and marine farming of Hauts-de-France (north), denouncing “the unacceptable attitude of the English and their non-compliance with signed agreements ”. “The retaliatory measures are very good, it is the only solution” but “Boris Johnson will not stop there” and “at the slightest problem we will have hijacked boats”, he regretted.

“Nuisance capacity”

“The idea is to show the British that we have a nuisance capacity and that we can further strengthen it,” Jean-Luc Hall, director general of the National Committee for Maritime Fisheries and Fisheries, told AFP. marine farms. At this stage, the intention to prohibit British ships from unloading their goods concerns, according to him, six French ports and it would be up to the prefectures to apply the “zealous controls” envisaged.

Under the Brexit deal, European fishermen can continue to work in certain UK waters provided they can prove that they previously fished there. But the French and the British argue over the nature and extent of the supporting documents to be provided. Caught up in this dispute between the two countries, Ian Gorst, Minister of External Relations for the Channel Island of Jersey, called on Sky News to “stop all this nonsense and deal with the technical problems” allowing the issuance of licenses fishing.

Franco-British relations still strained

Even before the expiration of the ultimatum, the French authorities diverted last week to Le Havre (north-west) a British trawler suspected of having fished more than two tonnes of scallops without a license. He was still at the dock on Monday. Contacted by AFP in the UK, Andrew Brown, spokesperson for MacDuff Shellfish based in Mintlaw, northern Scotland, said a hearing was scheduled for Tuesday or Wednesday “when the terms and conditions surrounding the release of the ship will be determined, ”pending the trial of the captain scheduled for August.

This file aggravates relations between Paris and London, already damaged by the torpedoing of a Franco-Australian contract for submarines in favor of the Aukus defense agreement between Great Britain, the United States and Australia. Another subject of post-Brexit tensions also persists between the European Union and the United Kingdom around Northern Ireland. London demands the renegotiation of customs measures specific to the British province.