French President Emmanuel Macron promised, on Monday 1 November, to “give a chance” to discussions with the UK on the number of fishing licences to be granted to French fishermen in British waters.
Paris threatened to adopt severe retaliatory measures if London did not grant more licences to French fishermen by Tuesday 2 November (see EUROPE 12823/2, 12822/6).
A reprieve. France has finally announced that it will not apply sanctions against the UK ahead of a ministerial meeting in Paris on Thursday 4 November, to which UK Brexit minister David Frost is invited to settle the fisheries dispute.
Mr Frost will meet the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune.
On the sidelines of the COP26 in Glasgow, Emmanuel Macron said that “it is not while we are negotiating that we are going to impose sanctions”. He said he “ trusts the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, to take the French proposals seriously. For ten months, the results were too slow; if this new method makes it possible to have a result, I hope that it will be given a chance”.
The retaliatory measures, including a ban on British ships landing their goods in French ports and increased customs controls, were to apply from 2 November.
The UK is ready to continue discussions. “We welcome the French Government’s announcement that they will not go ahead with implementing their proposed measures as planned”, Downing Street said. London says it is ready “to continue intensive discussions on fisheries, including considering any new evidence to support the remaining licence applications”.
The announcement of a meeting scheduled for Thursday in Paris will allow for a de-escalation, even if temporary. London had also threatened “countervailing measures” under the dispute settlement mechanism of the post-Brexit trade agreement.
Under this trade and cooperation agreement, European fishermen can continue to work in certain UK waters, provided they can prove that they were already fishing there between 2017 and 2020.
But the French and British are arguing about the nature and extent of the evidence required. According to London, nearly 100 fishermen have not provided sufficient evidence of this history. Seventy-five fishermen were refused licences and a further 55 were due to lose their provisional licences at the end of October if the Jersey administration did not renew them.
On Monday the 1 November, the European Commission had invited its officials and French and British negotiators to a meeting to find a solution to the problem of fishing licences. But talks will have to continue to overcome the differences between the parties. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)