On Wednesday, 24 November, the European Commission asked for the dispute between the EU and the UK over the number of fishing licences in British waters to be settled by 10 December, but this announcement has not assuaged the anger of French fishermen, who announced that ports will be blocked on Friday, 26 November.
European Commissioner for Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius indicated that he had spoken with the British environment minister, George Eustice, on Thursday in order to “intensify discussions for a final solution by 10/12/2021” with regard to these fishing licences. In addition, the commissioner clarified, “Our teams continue work to conclude on replacement vessels [and] Guernsey waters by the end of the month”.
Prior to this, France had raised its voice and asked the European Commission to be “more active” so as to settle this dispute (see EUROPE 12835/2).
France is reportedly still asking for more than 150 authorisations, according to the French Ministry of the Sea.
In the 6- to 12-nautical mile zone off the British coast, there are difficult discussions over 40 boats (over 12 metres) that were recently launched to replace older vessels.
London is currently refusing to issue them licences—considering them to be new applications—because they concern more modern and often more powerful vessels. France wants to see the status of some 30 vessels that are considered “high priority” vessels resolved as a matter of urgency, since they carry out a large part of their catches in these British waters to which they no longer have access.
For its part, the Guernsey government has granted only provisional licences, and 58 applications are pending.
French fishermen are going into action. On Thursday, the president of the French national committee of maritime fisheries and marine farming, Gérard Romiti, called for “the immediate resolution” of the dispute between the EU and the United Kingdom over “the interpretation of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement”.
During a videoconference, he justified the reasons for the actions taken at the national level (blocking the ports of Saint-Malo and Calais, in particular, and access to the Cross-Channel Tunnel) in reaction, in his view, to “the United Kingdom’s provocative, contemptuous, and humiliating attitude” towards French fishermen.
According to Mr Romiti, the aim is to prevent “British bad faith” from continuing on other upcoming discussions (definition of the methodology related to replacement vessels, definition of quota levels for shared stocks, technical measures, and marine protected areas).
Mr Romiti called for the United Kingdom to respect the agreement reached on 24 December 2020 and felt that the European Commission’s commitment “is questionable”. It is time for the European Commission to “openly affirm its supposed support of French fishermen”, Mr Romiti concluded.
Press release (in French): https://bit.ly/3l8IfyX (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)