France will ask the European Commission to initiate a dispute against the UK in an attempt to obtain some more licences for its fishermen.
The government’s announcement, following a meeting at the Élysée Palace, on Friday 17 December, between French President Emmanuel Macron, French fishermen and elected representatives from the regions concerned, brings to an end eleven months of fierce Franco-British battle over the granting of post-Brexit fishing licences (see EUROPE 12852/10).
“We will ask the European Commission in the next few days to initiate a dispute, a legal procedure for the licences to which we are entitled, which are the highest priority, the most important”, declared the Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, after the meeting.
Paris will also ask for a meeting of the ‘Joint Partnership Council, which is provided for in the EU/UK trade agreement, “to tell the British that this is a European problem, that they are not respecting the agreement 100%”, Mr Beaune continued.
The Minister for the Sea, Annick Girardin, said that there were “73 licences still pending” after more than a thousand authorisations had been obtained.
Compensation. But at the same time, the French government confirms the implementation of a compensation programme for professionals left behind due to the expiration of their licences in British waters. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)