On fishermen’s licenses, London takes a step towards France – The HuffPost

Stephane Mahe / Reuters

FRENCH FISHERMEN – A small step towards France. Threatened with “litigation” at European level by Paris in the conflict of fishing rights post-Brexit, the British granted 23 additional licenses to French fishermen this Saturday, December 11. A figure still far below the 104 licenses still claimed by France.

France had said the day before to wait for “a gesture of goodwill” from London to continue discussions, after threatening to initiate proceedings against it at European level if no progress was recorded during the day.

“Yesterday evening, after receiving additional supporting documents from the European Commission, the United Kingdom granted 18 licenses to replacement vessels,” a British government spokesperson told AFP. An announcement confirmed by the Commission, which is negotiating on behalf of France.

France has announced for its part that it will continue to “work jointly” with the Commission to obtain the 81 licenses still missing. Paris and Brussels will thus “put forward evidence that the British undertake to analyze in the coming weeks,” said Minister of the Sea Annick Girardin and Secretary of State for European Affairs Clément Beaune in a joint statement. “A clear and shared methodology for the replacement vessels is also essential”, they noted.

Paris wants 81 additional licenses

These new boats, which take the place of boats previously fishing in British waters but which London contested the anticipation, are the main stumbling block in the discussions with Paris. “Further technical work continues on seven additional requests for replacement vessels, and is expected to be concluded on Monday,” the British spokesperson added.

In addition, the Anglo-Norman island of Jersey, which grants its licenses independently, approved 5 new licenses to French fishermen on Saturday, its government announced, a figure confirmed by Brussels. In total, the island has issued 130 licenses so far. Its neighbor Guernsey, she had issued in early December forty licenses. According to the British spokesperson, these decisions “conclude the period of intensive talks” of the last few days between London and the Commission.

Under the 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 for more than eleven months, the French and the British have been arguing over the nature and extent of the supporting documents to be provided. With the 23 approvals announced on Saturday, France has so far obtained 1,027 post-Brexit fishing licenses and is therefore claiming another 81.

Positive progress

“This decision is an important step in a long process. We are going to examine (…) the legal basis of each license request that has not yet been approved, ”European Fisheries Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius said on Twitter on Saturday. In total, 83 new licenses have been granted by the British in the past two weeks, he said.

1/2 Our count this morning: 23 additional EU fishing vessels have qualified for a license to fish in UK territorial & Jersey waters.
Technical work on 7 more licenses is scheduled to conclude on Monday.
83 vessels in total received clarity over the past two weeks.

– Virginijus Sinkevičius (@VSinkevicius) December 11, 2021

2/2 This decision is an important step in a long process. We will examine together with ?? administration the legal circumstances around every license request that has not been granted.

– Virginijus Sinkevičius (@VSinkevicius) December 11, 2021

The Commission was confident on Friday that a compromise would be reached quickly, pointing to “mutual understanding” and recalling that 95% of license applications claimed had already received a positive response. Brussels had asked London to settle the fishing rights dispute before Friday, December 10, Paris making this date an ultimatum. Thursday evening, the United Kingdom had sharply rejected the deadline.

Political quarrel

If London “sticks to its position, we will ask the Commission to announce that a dispute has been initiated,” French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, had reaffirmed on Friday. But “if the British say ‘We give a few dozen additional licenses’ as a gesture of goodwill (…), we will take it into account (…) and perhaps we will continue” to dialogue, he immediately added. .

The French Ministry of the Sea had not yet reacted early Saturday afternoon to the announcement from London. Minister Annick Girardin had criticized the “delaying tactics” of the United Kingdom two days earlier

What London challenges: “It is a technical procedure based on tangible elements, and not deadlines. The intense discussions over the past few days have been constructive (…) but our decisions will remain guided by the quality of the supporting documents provided, ”a British government spokesperson explained on Friday. On the French Channel coast, fishermen claim to have provided “all the required documents”.

The tone has already been raised on several occasions: a blockade of Jersey by French fishermen last May; French threats of sanctions in October; and more recently, blocking by French fishermen ports and the freight terminal of the Channel Tunnel.

See also on the HuffPost: The ports of Saint-Malo and the Channel tunnel blocked by fishermen