Licenses granted in a trickle and mounting tensions.
The fishermen of Hauts-de-France, disappointed with the granting by London of only 23 additional licenses to French fishermen, announced upcoming actions against imports of British products and said they were "abandoned by the European Commission".
These professionals "wonder about the relevance of Community policy, the principles of authority and respect being at the very least uncertain in the higher spheres of Brussels", writes the regional committee of maritime fisheries and marine farming (CRPMEM) of Hauts -de-France in a press release.
23 more licenses this Saturday
Threatened to go to "litigation" by Paris in the conflict of post-Brexit fishing rights, the British granted 23 additional licenses to French fishermen on Saturday, a figure far below the 104 licenses claimed by France.
“Far from satisfying the professionals of the sector, this news exasperates the fishermen of Hauts-de-France, who feel both betrayed by the British government (…) and neglected by the European Commission, which had nevertheless promised to crack down », Deplores the CRPMEM on Saturday evening.
"Movements will be expected (...) movements which will target the import of British products" and will be "in line with the blockades of Breton, Norman ports and northern France which took place on November 26th" , warn fishermen.
Still tens expected
That day, fishermen had set up blockades in the ports of Saint-Malo, Calais, or even Ouistreham.
They had also blocked access to the Channel Tunnel for about two hours.
Read alsoFishing licenses for French vessels: 5 minutes to understand the blocking of the United Kingdom
Under the agreement signed at the end of 2020 between London and Brussels, European fishermen can continue to work in British waters provided they can prove that they were fishing there before.
But for more than eleven months, the French and the British have been arguing over the nature and extent of the supporting documents to be provided, in particular for new trawlers.
With the 23 approvals announced on Saturday, France has so far obtained 1,027 post-Brexit fishing licenses.
The objective is 1,098 licenses for French fishermen.
“This is not anecdotal, it is capital: they are fishermen, families.
One job at sea means four jobs on land, ”the French minister had previously declared to the Senate's economic and European affairs committees.
