The automatic right of EU vessels to fish in UK waters, which is provided for under the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), will be abolished under the ‘Fisheries Bill’, introduced in the UK Parliament on Wednesday 29 January. We asked Gerard van Balsfoort, President of the European Fisheries Alliance (EUFA), about the tough, upcoming negotiations between the EU and the UK on fisheries (Interview by Lionel Changeur).
Agence Europe: Do you think that an agreement between the EU and the United Kingdom on fisheries can be concluded by the end of the year?
Gerard van Balsfoort: Negotiations will not begin until 1 March. The negotiating mandate is expected to be approved by the European Council on 25 February. On the basis of this mandate, Michel Barnier will start negotiations with the United Kingdom.
The political declaration signed by the EU and Boris Johnson states that the parties want to reach an agreement on fisheries before 1 July 2020. If you start negotiations in March, that seems a very ambitious deadline for reaching agreement on such a difficult subject. There is no obligation to reach an agreement on 1 July. However, at the end of the year, there must be an overall agreement on everything (trade, security, aviation, fisheries as well).
The important thing is that they do not negotiate separately on fisheries. According to the mandate, fisheries negotiations will be linked to trade negotiations. Phil Hogan and Leo Varadkar have told the UK authorities that if they do not give a good fisheries agreement, the UK will not have access to the EU for its financial services, for example. I therefore believe that, in the end, negotiations will take place on the various issues until the end of the year, but I consider the objective of having a comprehensive agreement by the end of the year to be really ambitious.
Fisheries will therefore be part of the overall negotiations. If the British do not give us a good fisheries agreement, they will not get a good agreement for them on the commercial side.
What are your expectations in these negotiations?
We want to maintain our access to British waters because, on average, 42% of the European fleet’s catches are made in British waters. And we do not want an arduous debate on the distribution of fisheries quotas. We wish to retain our existing quota shares. We already have an allocation of allowances per Member State. The United Kingdom wants a larger share, while the share is the same size.
Do you think ‘relative stability’ will change?
I do not think so, even if the United Kingdom wants to change it. If you link fisheries to other issues that are of interest to the British, there’s a good chance that it will not change. The negotiations will be very difficult, as Boris Johnson has promised major changes in favour of the British fishing industry.
How will the market evolve?
The UK is totally dependent on the EU market. 80% of its fish and seafood catches are exported, and a large majority of them are destined for the EU. It is not easy to find other markets in China or America, for example. British fishermen want Brexit, but Brexit is of great concern to British processors and traders. If they cannot sell their scallops or langoustines to EU countries, they may be in trouble. Within the British fishing industry, opinions are divided. I really hope Michel Barnier has a strong hand. But it will be difficult.
What form could the future fisheries agreement with the United Kingdom take?
The UK Government and the fishing industry always refer to the EU/Norway Fisheries Agreement and the annual negotiations on access and quota shares. But this is not true, it is nonsense: the EU negotiates with Norway every year, but only on the total number of fish that can be caught, never on the amount of fish that the EU and Norway get. This distribution was done only once, 35 years ago, and then it was set in stone and never discussed.
I hope that, as part of the agreement with the United Kingdom, we will have to have annual discussions between Norway, the United Kingdom and the EU for the stocks that are shared between the three of us. And for stocks shared between the EU and the UK, we have to discuss every year how much we can fish in the light of new scientific advice and decide that a certain share of the cod catch, for example, is allocated to the UK and a certain share to the EU, while respecting the current relative stability.
We should not have to fight every year to find out how much the UK would like to increase its share for one stock or another. Because that could also be complicated internally when the EU has to decide on annual TACs and quotas.
Do you fear a closure of access to British waters from 1 January 2021 if there is no agreement?
Boris Johnson has made it legally impossible to extend the transitional period. To do so, he has to go back to the British Parliament. With this very ambitious timetable, we have between March and October to negotiate everything. If there is no extension of the transition period and no agreement, we will be in a non-agreement situation and, on the basis of the new Fisheries Bill, Boris Johnson will be able to close access to British waters. That’s what we want to avoid.