French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson are due to meet on the sidelines of the G20 this weekend in Rome, amid deep tensions exacerbated by the post-Brexit fishing issue, Downing Street said on Friday.
Read alsoFishing: France draws its retaliatory measures against Great Britain
Multiple voltages
The subjects of contention accumulate between Paris and London: illegal immigration through the Channel, the AUKUS pact which led to the cancellation of an Australian order for French submarines and the consequences of Brexit, in Northern Ireland or for fishermen .
Read also Fishing licenses: "We are witnessing an unprecedented rise in tensions in Franco-British relations"
On this last point, the tone has risen since France announced the first retaliatory measures - tightening of controls and a ban for British boats from disembarking in French ports - against the Channel Islands and the United Kingdom as of November 2, if French fishermen do not obtain by then more licenses to fish in their waters.
France has baffled a British trawler suspected of having caught more than two tonnes of unlicensed scallops.
Its captain will be tried next August.
French Secretary of State for European Affairs Clément Beaune estimated that France must "
now speak the language of force
" to make itself heard.
London retaliates
On the British side, the Ambassador of France to the United Kingdom, Catherine Colonna, is summoned to Friday afternoon at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On the BBC, the British Minister for the Environment, George Eustice, criticized France for adopting an "
inflammatory tone
".
He warned that the British authorities could in turn tighten controls on French ships.
The British minister also considered that the approach of the presidential election in France could constitute "
a factor
" explaining the French reaction.
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