Post-Brexit fishing: Annick Girardin, accused of giving up against London, defends herself – The HuffPost

POOL New via Reuters

FISHING – No, France is not giving in to London, but it anticipates the worst. This is in essence the message of the Minister of the Sea, Annick Girardin, this Friday, November 19, facing those who accuse him of giving up on the conflict over fishing in the English Channel.

For several months, the fishing license file negotiated as part of the post-Brexit agreement poisoned already complicated relations between France and the United Kingdom. At the Assises de la Mer, Annick Girardin reported on progress, particularly with Guernsey, but vigorously denounced the attitude of the neighboring island of Jersey.

On Thursday, the Minister of the Sea therefore announced the preparation of “fleet exit plans” to compensate fishermen whose vessels would not obtain a license and would ultimately remain at the dock.

“It is definitely obvious that Jersey does not respect the Brexit agreement, worse, it shows a unwillingness to cooperate with us”, declared the minister during an intervention at the meeting of the fishery organized in Saint-Pol-de -Léon in Finistère. She recalled that 46 requests for authorizations were still unanswered and that 52 licenses had expired on October 31, “including 13 priority ones, depriving these fishermen of access to Jersey waters”.

“France lowers its pants”

Negotiations have yet to continue, but this announcement was seen by the sector as a waiver by the French authorities. Local elected officials and professionals immediately rejected the hypothesis of a “massive plan to destroy the boats.”

“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 let go of ‘one centimeter, you have to show your teeth, otherwise … ”

Faced with these remonstrances, Annick Girardin defended her measure this Friday on France Inter: “If we were not to obtain this license, and I do not even want to imagine it – but at the same time, I have to anticipate it – we have to provide a solution for everyone. But that does not mean that we capitulate, that we do not continue to fight, ”she assures us.

My role is to be combative and far-sighted. Combative, I am and will remain so: for 11 months, I have been defending the rights of fishermen by claiming the number of licenses due to us and I will not give up. 1/3

– Annick Girardin (@AnnickGirardin) November 19, 2021

She said that the exit plan mentioned during the Assises was “nothing new” and had already been decided as part of the Brexit support plan.

“These are support tools for fishermen (including outside the framework of Brexit, editor’s note), because fishing is changing. Some companies need these support tools, including leaving the fleet when there is no other solution. This tool is known to fishermen, it is not new ”, she adds.

The “government’s priority” remains obtaining licenses, reassures the minister, but “to govern is to plan.” As part of the fleet exit plan, 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 ships cannot be taken back and will end up being scrapped.

See also on The HuffPost: Fishing in Jersey: France denounces the “unacceptable” decision of the United Kingdom