Threatened with "
litigation
" by France in the post-Brexit fishing rights conflict, the British granted 23 additional licenses on Saturday December 11, a figure much lower than the 104 licenses claimed by Paris and which provoked the "
anger
" of fishermen French.
Disappointed, French fishermen raised the threat of actions against imports of British products in the evening.
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Read alsoPost-Brexit fishing: the United Kingdom grants 23 additional licenses to the French
France said on Friday to wait for "
a gesture of goodwill
" from London to continue discussions, after threatening to initiate proceedings against it at European level if no progress was recorded during the day.
"
Yesterday evening, after receiving additional supporting documents from the European Commission, the United Kingdom granted 18 licenses to replacement vessels
," a British government spokesperson told AFP.
An announcement confirmed by the Commission, which is negotiating on behalf of France.
These new boats, which take the place of vessels previously fishing in British waters but which London contested the anticipation, are the main stumbling block in the discussions with Paris. "
Further technical work continues on seven additional requests for replacement vessels and is expected to be concluded on Monday,
" the British spokesperson added.
In addition, the Anglo-Norman island of Jersey, which grants its licenses independently, approved five new licenses for French fishermen on Saturday, its government announced.
In total, the island has issued 130 licenses so far.
Its neighbor Guernsey had issued around 40 licenses in early December.
According to the British spokesperson, these decisions "
conclude the period of intensive talks
" of the last few days between London and the Commission.
"Long process"
France however warned that it would continue to "
work jointly
" with the Commission to obtain the 81 licenses still missing. Paris and Brussels will thus "
put forward evidence that the British undertake to analyze in the coming weeks,
" said Minister of the Sea Annick Girardin and Secretary of State for European Affairs Clément Beaune in a joint statement. "
A clear and shared methodology for the replacement vessels is also essential
", they noted.
Under the agreement signed at the end of 2020 between London and Brussels, European fishermen can continue to work in British waters provided they can prove that they were fishing there before. But for more than eleven months, the French and the British have been arguing over the nature and extent of the supporting documents to be provided, in particular for new trawlers.
With the 23 approvals announced on Saturday, France has so far obtained 1,027 post-Brexit fishing licenses.
"
We are going to examine (...) the legal basis of each license request not yet approved,
" European Fisheries Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius stressed on Saturday.
The Commission was confident on Friday that a compromise would be reached quickly, recalling that 95% of license applications had already received a positive response.
"Abandoned" fishermen
Brussels had asked London to settle the dispute over fishing rights before Friday, December 10, Paris making this date an ultimatum, threatening litigation and criticizing the “
delaying tactics
” of the United Kingdom. Thursday evening, the United Kingdom had nevertheless sharply rejected the deadline. "
Our decisions will remain guided by the quality of the supporting documents provided
", explained a spokesperson for the British government on Friday.
For their part, the fishermen of Hauts-de-France expressed their disappointment on Saturday at the number of licenses not yet approved, considering themselves "
neglected by the Commission
". The region's marine fisheries committee announced in a statement forthcoming action against British imports. The national fishermen's committee also spoke of the "
disappointment
" and "
anger
" of its members.
The committee "
still hopes
" that new licenses will arrive by Monday.
Then, "
it will be necessary to think about the modalities of actions
", warned Jean-Luc Hall, the general director of the national committee.
French fishermen had already expressed their anger by organizing a blockade of Jersey in May, then more recently by blocking ports and the Channel Tunnel freight terminal.
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Saturday's British announcement comes on the eve of a meeting in Brussels of EU ministers responsible for fisheries on Sunday to set catch quotas for 2022 in EU waters.
Negotiations are also underway between the Commission and London to set annual quotas for the waters shared by the EU and the United Kingdom by the end of December.
