On Wednesday 30 September, the United Kingdom and Norway reached an agreement on fisheries, one of the most contentious issues for the UK and the European Union in their post-Brexit negotiations (see other news).
For the United Kingdom, this is the first agreement of this kind in 40 years, the British government points out.
The agreement, which will enter into force on 1 January 2021, “allows the parties to agree on exchanges of fishing quotas and mutual access to fishing zones under their respective jurisdictions”, says the Norwegian government. These issues will be discussed annually.
Other aspects of fisheries co-operation in the North Sea will, however, need to be regulated by a separate tripartite agreement between the EU, Norway and the UK.
The agreement shows the “shared commitment of the United Kingdom and Norway to cooperate as independent coastal states and to establish effective and sustainable management of their fisheries”, the UK government says.
This agreement “includes the same principles as (those that) the UK is currently seeking to achieve with the EU”, the UK goes on to say, pointing out that the withdrawal from the EU will “allow the country to decide who can access its waters and on what terms”.
Link to the UK press release: https://bit.ly/33j9XR9
Link to the Norwegian press release: https://bit.ly/3n7iuyp (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)