Brexit: France is preparing to compensate unlicensed vessels, “fiasco” for fishermen – archyde

“It means it’s the end”: French fishermen on Thursday expressed their anger after the Minister of the Sea Annick Girardin mentioned a compensation plan for those who could no longer work because of Brexit, seen by the professionals like the recognition of a “defeat” of France.

Faced with the difficulties to obtain fishing rights, in particular from the authorities of the Channel Island of Jersey, Ms. Girardin announced Thursday morning the preparation of “fleet exit plans” to compensate fishermen whose vessels no. ‘would not obtain a license and would ultimately remain at the dock.

The announcement had the effect of a bomb at the Assizes de la Mer organized in Saint-Pol-de-Léon (Finistère), where local elected officials and professionals immediately rejected the hypothesis of a “massive plan for the destruction of boats “while negotiations continue with London.

But also in French ports whose activity depends largely on British waters.

“The defeat was predictable (…). It’s a fiasco”, reacted to AFP Pascal Delacour, boss of a trawler in Granville (Manche), opposite Jersey. “France has lowered its pants and abandoned its young sailors because it is above all they who do not have licenses”.

“France is lowering its pants”, also told AFP the president of the Côtes-d’Armor fisheries committee, Alain Coudray, for whom “with the English (…) we must not give up a centimeter, you have to show your teeth, otherwise … ”

While France has already lowered its requirements, professionals have the feeling of giving up.

“It is visibility that you need. I will therefore be frank with you, we must prepare for these losses,” the minister told them in the morning.

She specified that “an envelope of 40 to 60 million euros” could “be put on the table”, supplemented by European funds intended to support the consequences of Brexit, in order to compensate fishermen whose vessels cannot not be taken back and will end up being scrapped.

– “The government drops the flag” –

“The government is disarmed. The plan to exit the fleet is the ax. It means that it is the end. (…) The government is lowering its flag, whereas it had promised retaliatory measures” , criticizes the president of the Hauts-de-France regional fisheries committee, Olivier Leprêtre.

Faced with the outcry, the minister spent an hour at the end of the day with the professionals. The “priority of the government is to obtain licenses”, but “that does not prevent to foresee the future of the sector”, including by compensating those who would remain at the quayside, she insisted.

She conceded that her morning speech might have given some the impression that France was “giving up”, but assured that she “will continue to fight alongside the fishermen so that no one stays behind. on the side of the road”.

Under the Brexit agreement signed at the end of 2020 between London and Brussels, European fishermen can continue to work in British waters provided they can prove that they were fishing there before. But the French and the British argue over the nature and extent of the supporting documents to be provided.

In areas still disputed, the governments of London and the Channel Islands have so far granted nearly 220 permanent licenses. France is still asking for some 150 licenses (against 170 a month ago), according to an AFP count.

Ms. Girardin reported progress, particularly with Guernsey, but vigorously denounced the attitude of the neighboring island, deeming “obvious that Jersey does not respect the Brexit agreement”.

About a quarter of French catches (excluding the Mediterranean) in volume (about 20% in value) come from British waters, which are rich in fish.

As dozens of provisional licenses expired at the end of September, France had toughened its tone, announcing sanctions, including a ban on disembarking for British boats and reinforced customs controls, if no progress was made.

The threat had finally receded, especially after the meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, but the crisis is tending to get bogged down.

bur-sb / tq / ico / els