Representatives of French fishermen will be received by President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace on Friday at 11:30 a.m. to discuss the consequences of Brexit and the conflict over fishing licenses with London, AFP learned on Thursday (December 16th).
Read also Post-Brexit fishing: "93% of licenses have been obtained", indicates Clément Beaune
"
The President of the Republic will meet this Friday, December 17, at the Elysée Palace, a delegation of fishermen affected by Brexit, in the presence of Annick Girardin, Minister of the Sea, and Clément Beaune, Secretary of State for European affairs,
”the Elysee told AFP.
The national fisheries committee and representatives of fishermen from Hauts-de-France, Normandy and Brittany are invited.
They will be accompanied by the presidents of these three regions, Xavier Bertrand (Hauts-de-France), Hervé Morin (Normandy) and Loïg Chesnais-Girard (Brittany), the latter's cabinet told AFP.
"An update" on fishing licenses
During this meeting, the participants will carry out "
an update on the licenses obtained, on the prospects on the licenses not obtained at this stage and on the implementation of the trade and cooperation agreement with the United Kingdom
" , detailed the Elysee. “
The support that the French State intends to provide to ensure that no ship remains without a solution
” will also be discussed.
Under the Brexit 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 the French and the British disagree on the supporting documents to be provided. After weeks of conflict, the British granted 1,027 licenses to French fishermen, including 23 last Saturday.
"
We still have a few dozen to obtain, around 60,
" French Secretary of State for European Affairs Clément Beaune told CNews on Monday.
“
Now we are reviewing with [the fishermen] the last mile of this negotiation.
It can be the dialogue on certain licenses and it can be the legal dispute on others,
”he added.
Read also Post-Brexit fishing: France will go to litigation if it does not obtain its licenses from the United Kingdom, warns Girardin
France threatened to initiate litigation at European level if it did not obtain a gesture from the British.
In Hauts-de-France, 39 fishermen have obtained a license, while 29 are awaiting a response after providing supporting documents and 34 "
remain on the side of the road because they have no proof
" , Olivier Leprêtre, representative of fishermen in the region, told AFP on Thursday.
Negotiations are also continuing with London to agree by the end of December on 2022 fishing quotas in waters shared between the EU and the United Kingdom.
As a precaution, the Europeans approved "
an emergency mechanism extending the 2021 quotas for three months (January-March)
".