Saturday, December 11th, 2021
Breakthrough in the fishing dispute?
French fishermen get more licenses
The tug-of-war over fishing rights has been causing a dispute between France and Great Britain for months. Shortly after the deadline has expired, the British government gives in and issues further licenses. It remains to be seen whether France will be satisfied with this.
In the dispute between France and Great Britain over fishing rights in the English Channel, London granted 23 additional licenses to French fishermen. After the EU Commission had provided “further evidence”, Great Britain issued 18 licenses, announced a British government spokesman.
The Channel Island of Jersey has for its part issued five licenses. The government in Paris asked for dozens more licenses for French fishing boats. A deadline in the fisheries dispute had expired on Friday: the EU Commission, which mediated the conflict, had asked Great Britain to resolve the differences with France by December 10th.
Paris and London have been fighting over fishing rights in the English Channel for months. In the agreement on the UK’s exit from the EU in December last year, London promised that French and other EU fishermen would be allowed to continue fishing in British waters if they had already fished there before Brexit.
However, there are problems with proving this. France announced on Friday that 104 licenses for French boats were still missing. According to British sources, many French fishermen are unable to provide the necessary papers.
The French government announced that after the 23 licenses had been issued, it would continue to work together with the EU Commission to obtain the 81 remaining licenses. Paris and Brussels would “present evidence that the British will analyze in the next few weeks,” said Marine Minister Annick Girardin and European State Secretary Clément Beaune in a joint statement.