French Minister of the Sea, Annick Girardin, said on Friday she wanted a solution by November 1 on post-Brexit fishing licenses granted by the Channel island of Jersey, which she will meet with officials on Monday. in Paris.
The deadline remains "
obligatorily on November 1, since at the end of October, it is the last limit for Jersey to give its answers to the requests for licenses
" of the French fishermen, who have until this date to provide him with the required documents, a she explained in Brussels.
Read also Post-Brexit fishing: the Jersey government calls for calm
Annick Girardin was speaking after a meeting with European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic and Fisheries Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius.
“
We are two weeks away from this decision (from Jersey).
Nothing has been ruled out today, neither by France nor by the European Commission,
”which is negotiating on behalf of Paris with London, underlined the minister.
Limited number of licenses
On Wednesday, France had indicated that it would take steps to "
reply
" or even of "
retaliation
", "
by about eight days
" if Jersey did not grant more licenses to French fishermen. In particular, it threatens to reduce its electricity deliveries to the island and to target its key financial services sector. “
The Commission must list the retaliatory measures provided for in the (post-Brexit trade) agreement. It is obvious that if the Commission does not act, if the United Kingdom and Jersey do not meet confidence, we will have to be able to act on our own
, ”warned Annick Girardin.
The post-Brexit agreement, concluded in extremis at the end of 2020 between London and Brussels, provides that European fishermen can continue to work in certain British waters on condition of obtaining a license, granted if they can prove that they were fishing there previously. .
But the French and the British argue over the nature and extent of the supporting documents - especially for small vessels without a tracking system or new boats having replaced an older vessel.
Read alsoFishing: Paris threatens to "reduce" electricity deliveries to Jersey, not to "cut" it
In the still disputed fishing zones (zone of 6-12 miles from the British coasts and the Channel Islands), London and Jersey have granted a total of some 200 definitive licenses, while Paris is asking for more than 230, including a hundred to Jersey and nearly sixty for the neighboring island of Guernsey.
The local government of Jersey, responsible for its fishing areas, announced on Friday that it had granted two additional licenses to French fishermen, while calling for calm and deeming the threats from Paris "
disproportionate
".
