France Says Talks With U.K. to End Fish Spat Useful, Ongoing
France Says Talks With U.K. to End Fishing Spat Useful, Ongoing
(Bloomberg) -- France praised the latest round of talks with the U.K. over post-Brexit fishing licenses, but a solution to the dispute has yet to be found.
“The discussion was useful and positive,” France’s European Union affairs minister, Clement Beaune, said in a conference call with reporters following talks with U.K. Brexit minister David Frost on Thursday in Paris. “We are giving the chance to dialog and keeping options open, without naivety and with European coordination,” Beaune added.
Negotiations between U.K., France, the European Commission and Channel Islands will continue, and the French minister said he will speak with Frost again early next week.
Tensions flared last month when France threatened to impose retaliatory action on the U.K. and Jersey in protest over a lack of licenses issued to its boats to fish in British waters since Brexit. The U.K. and Jersey have been asking for evidence of historic activity that proves they are entitled to a license, something some smaller French boats haven’t managed to do.
Boris Johnson’s official spokesman Max Blain told reporters Thursday that the U.K. wouldn’t be changing its approach to the evidence requirements for French boats, a sign that a compromise is yet to be reached. President Emmanuel Macron has proposed an alternative methodology for what would constitute adequate evidence, a proposal the U.K. is considering.
“We don’t believe the French are planning to move forward with previous threats they’ve made,” Blain said. “We’re not seeking to change our approach in how we grant licenses.”
Heated exchanges risked overshadowing the global climate summit hosted by Johnson in Glasgow until Macron walked back a threat to sanction the U.K., saying he’d give negotiations more time to come to an agreement.
The French government says punitive measures are still possible if a deal isn’t reached. They could include: tighter customs checks, a ban on British vessels landing their catches in French ports, and increasing energy costs for the British Channel Islands, which are heavily reliant on electricity from France via an undersea cable.
In an interview with LCI television on Thursday night, Beaune said France would wait “a few days” to see if the U.K. is genuine in wanting to find a solution. He said he was cautiously optimistic.
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