After a meeting with the British Minister for European Affairs, David Frost, the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, said on Tuesday 9 November that France hoped for “a rapid solution” to the dispute with the United Kingdom over the fishing licences granted to French vessels in British waters (see EUROPE 12827/1, 12826/22).
Negotiations on this issue are ongoing between the European Commission, France, and the UK.
According to Downing Street, David Frost and Clement Beaune “discussed a range of issues relating to relations with France and the European Union, including fisheries, and agreed to speak again later in the week”.
Under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, EU fishermen can continue to operate in UK waters and the Channel Islands, provided they can prove that they were previously fishing there.
But the French and British are arguing about the nature and extent of the evidence required. Paris estimates that there are still 200 licences missing for French boats, a figure that London disputes.
For the time being, France has suspended its threat of retaliatory measures (ban on the landing of British fishing vessels in designated ports, reinforcement of sanitary and customs controls, controls on lorries, etc.), if London does not grant more licences to French fishermen. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)