After Gabriel Attal, the government spokesperson who denounced on Tuesday the attitude of the British government which “is wiping its feet on the Brexit agreement”, the French government has toughened its tone even further.
Minister of the Sea Annick Girardin said that the retaliatory measures announced "to defend the rights of French fishermen" did not reflect "a war" but a "fight" to force against the United Kingdom to respect the post-agreement. Brexit.
“French fishermen have rights.
There was an agreement signed, we must enforce this agreement.
We have fishing rights, we must defend them and we defend them, ”she insisted on RTL.
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Post-Brexit fishing license: the French government wants to sanction England
As a reminder, 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 provided 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 to be provided.
In the still disputed fishing zones (the 6-12 mile zone of the British coasts and the Channel Islands), London and Jersey have granted a little more than 210 definitive licenses, and Paris is asking for more than 200 more.
The tension is growing
For Clément Beaune, the French Secretary of State for European Affairs is more categorical.
"Now we must speak the language of force because I fear that unfortunately this British government understands only that", he launched on the CNEWS channel.
"British ships that want to unload their fishery products in our ports, it will be over, with some exceptions [...] We will have no tolerance, no complacency" insists Secretary of State for European Affairs Clément Beaune in # LaMatinale pic.twitter.com/5Oi5rqpkZE
- CNEWS (@CNEWS) October 28, 2021
France announced on Wednesday the entry into force of the first retaliatory measures against the Channel Islands and the United Kingdom from November 2 if French fishermen do not obtain by then more licenses to fish in their waters.
But already during the night, two British trawlers in the waters of the Bay of the Seine were fined.
From next week, British fishing vessels will notably be banned from unloading their cargo in French ports and controls on trucks to and from the United Kingdom will be tightened.
“These are annoyances, they are slowdowns,” conceded Clément Beaune when asked about what could look like a zealous strike by French customs officials.
France is also considering a second series of measures, aimed in particular at supplying the Channel Islands with electricity, if it does not succeed with this first train.
"We can revise a certain number of cooperations, for example to increase the tariffs of the electricity", he warned.
It remains to be seen whether this French warning shot will allow the various partners to meet around a negotiating table or whether the response from the British government will be the subject of "an appropriate and calibrated response" as the first reactions from relatives of Boris Johnson.