The executive finally decided to strengthen the speech further.
"
We will continue to fight, we will not let go of our fishermen,
" Emmanuel Macron assured this Friday during a trip to the north of France.
It must be said that for 24 hours, fishermen who are struggling to obtain a license to exercise their activity in British waters and in those of the Channel Islands had Annick Girardin's statements across their throats.
The Minister of the Sea had indeed announced the day before that it was necessary to "
foresee the future of the sector
" by considering issuing compensation to ships that did not obtain a license.
To discover
Energy check: all you need to know about the aid scheme which concerns nearly 5.8 million households
Prime Macron 2021: how does it work?
Read also Post-Brexit fishing: the great Franco-British quarrel
This measure, supposed to reassure the foresight of the government, was seen as an admission of failure for the profession and the opposition. “
The defeat was predictable (...). It's a fiasco
”, reacted to AFP Pascal Delacour. "
France has lowered its pants and abandoned its young sailors because it is especially they who do not have licenses
", got carried away this boss of a trawler from Granville (Manche), opposite Jersey. He greeted like a bomb the “
exit plan of the fleet
” outlined by the government. Annick Girardin evaluated the compensation envelope between “
40 and 60 million euros
”. An amount that would be drawn from European funds planned to support the consequences of Brexit.
The government reaffirms its determination
The fishermen had already experienced the drop in French requirements concerning the number of licenses requested as a defeat.
According to a count made by AFP, the French government is only asking for 150 licenses, against 170 a month ago.
To date, the Channel Islands and London have granted a total of 220 licenses.
The French government, which has also wielded the threat of sanctions for several months, has finally given up on applying them on the announced date of November 1.
In this context, the announcement of the preparation of an exit plan by Annick Girardin did not fail to attract mockery from the opposition. The former Brexit negotiator and candidate for the nomination Les Républicaines (LR) on the right, Michel Barnier, criticized the government's “
resignation
” and “
renunciation
” in the face of “
bad faith
” on the part of the British. "
Emmanuel Macron has capitulated
", for his part, estimated the presidential candidate of the National Rally (RN) Marine Le Pen.
For the government, the challenge is therefore to mitigate the remarks of the Ministry of the Sea and to show that Paris does not “
lower the flag
” in the face of London's demands.
The minister herself reconsidered her remarks, hastening to add that "
the priority of the government (was) to obtain licenses
" post-Brexit without "
that does not prevent to foresee the future of the sector
”.
Read also Covid-19: Emmanuel Macron also confronted with respect for barrier gestures
"
We are also exerting pressure on the European Commission so that the demands demanded of the British are more important, more firmly said
", added Clément Beaune, who will meet Monday in Brussels with the vice-president of the Commission in charge of Brexit, Maros Sefkovic.
Together with the Secretary of State for European Affairs, Emmanuel Macron also called on the European Commission to “
protect
” France in this highly political issue.
"
If the Commission does not play its role, France will
", he warned.
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/PWWJZJX4RNHDPFBDM57S7RFHGQ.jpg)
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/JNAMK37HFIZKML76SWBTDTD3QI.jpg)
