The threat has been coming back regularly to members of the French government for several weeks: that of sanctions against the United Kingdom in response to the limited access to British waters for French fishermen since Brexit.
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Contrary to the December 2020 Brexit agreement, only 200 fishing licenses were granted to French sailors by London and Jersey.
230 are still pending until October 30, the deadline for the final validation of these fishing licenses.
A situation that provokes French anger.
At the direct request of Emmanuel Macron, all ministers are called upon to consider possible retaliatory measures.
They could be applied at the beginning of November if there are still fishermen without a license and without activity after October 30.
The outlines of these sanctions are becoming clearer.
This Wednesday, out of the Council of Ministers, government spokesman Gabriel Attal spoke of various possible scenarios and assured that the government would unveil the content before the end of the week.
Electricity tariff, access to ports and customs surcharges
The first track concerns the supply of energy to Jersey, supplied with electricity by France via a submarine cable.
A power cut is not the order of the day.
On the other hand, the Ministry of the Sea, in charge of this file, plans to increase the price of electricity sold to the Channel Island.
Read also Can France really cut off the power in Jersey?
Another option considered is to restrict the access of British fishing vessels to French ports.
Many of them come to sell their fished goods there so that they are then processed by French industrialists.
Protectionist measures are also being studied, in particular the implementation of customs surcharges on British goods sent to the European continent, in particular via the Channel Tunnel.
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But this type of sanction is the direct responsibility of the European common market and therefore of Brussels.
“We appealed to the Commission to take over the sanctions proposed by Paris.
The idea is to have sanctions at European level, ”
explains an advisor to the Minister of the Sea Annick Girardin, who recognizes that the issue is sensitive.
“We're walking on eggshells.
We will have to stay within proportionate sanctions so as not to further affect the already well-deteriorated relationship with the United Kingdom. "
