HIJACKED BY THE FRENCH
Fears of trade war after trawler held in Normandy over fishing row
BRITAIN was last night preparing to retaliate after a Scottish trawler was detained by France amid fears the fishing row could spark a fullblown trade war.
The Government accused the French of breaking international law and France’s ambassador to London will be hauled in today to face questioning.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said ambassador Catherine Colonna would be expected to attend the Foreign Office ‘to explain the disappointing and disproportionate threats made against the UK and Channel Islands’.
Two Royal Navy patrol vessels were last night said to be on a state of ‘high readiness’ in case of further fallout, but there was no immediate sign they would be required. In a dramatic intensification of the row over postBrexit fishing rights, the Cornelis Gert Jan was ordered to divert to Le Havre after French authorities said it did not have a licence.
The trawler’s boss claimed his vessel was being used as a ‘pawn’ in the dispute and blasted the ‘politically motivated’ French.
Aberdeenshire firm Macduff Shellfish owns the Cornelis, withthe boat registered in Dumfries.
The Cornelis and its eight crewmen languished in port last night. Andrew Brown, director of MacDuff Shellfish, told the Daily Mail the French were ‘exploiting’ supposed confusion over postBrexit paperwork.
But he also feared an ‘admin error’ on the UK side as the Cornelis appears to have ‘dropped off ’ a list of licensed vessels British authorities sent to Europe.
Mr Brown said: ‘It appears our vessel is another pawn in the ongoing dispute between the UK and France on the implementation of the Brexit Fishing Agreement. They have the right to query things if they feel there is some kind of error in any of the paperwork, but they don’t usually behave in such a heavy-handed manner.’
The Cornelis set off on a five-day fishing trip from Shoreham-bySea, West Sussex, at 12.30am on
Tuesday and entered French waters that evening. It fished uninterrupted until French vessel Athos intercepted it in the Baie de Seine at around 6pm on Wednesday. The Cornelis was escorted into Le Havre port.
The Mail yesterday visited the crew, said to be ‘in good spirits’ but refused to talk while police investigated. Scallop shells could be seen in the chains on the front deck but there was no other sign of its haul after French authorities punished it with a ‘confiscation of catch’ order. The cost to the firm is expected to be into the tens of thousands of pounds already, and mounts by the day as the crew misses out on vital fishing time.
French listeners celebrated ‘the first British ship seized by the French since Waterloo’ on local radio. French maritime minister Annick Girardin said the Cornelis was checked as part of regular patrols but against ‘the backdrop of the tightening of controls in the Channel, in the context of discussions on licences’. She added: ‘It’s not war, it’s a fight.’
France’s Europe minister Clement Beaune told French TV channel CNews: ‘We need to speak the language of force as I’m afraid it is the only thing this British government will understand. We will show no tolerance, no indulgence.’ Downing Street described the threats as ‘disappointing’ and ‘disproportionate’ and said it would respond in a ‘calibrated’ and ‘appropriate’ way. Last night a Government spokesman said: ‘The proposed French actions are unjustified and do not appear to be compatible on the EU’s part with the Trade and Cooperation Agreement or wider international law. We regret the confrontational language that has been consistently used by the French government on this issue, which makes this situation no easier to resolve.
‘We repeat that the Government has granted 98 per cent of licence applications from EU vessels to fish in the UK’s waters and, as has consistently been made clear, will consider any further evidence on the remainder.’
It follows anger after the UK and Jersey turned down applications from dozens of French boats to fish in their waters. Paris said it breached Britain’s post-Brexit EU trade deal and French ministers warned they will block British boats from French ports.
French prime minister Jean Castex said while Paris would like ‘deescalation’, it was down to Britain to keep its word. Tory MPs warned
‘Need to speak the language of force’ ‘There’s a lot of posturing’
the response risked a trade war and urged France to ‘back off’.
Former environment secretary Theresa Villiers said: ‘They need to back off so that a sensible conversation can take place. Ratcheting up tension like this... creates the risk that the situation degenerates into a trade war.’ Sir Iain Duncan Smith accused president Emmanuel Macron of trying to
shore up support ahead of elections next year. ‘He’s trying to pull the tail of the lion, which is what French politicians always do when they get a bit stuck. There’s a lot of posturing,’ he told talkRADIO. Ex-Brexit minister David Jones said: ‘That is why he is willing to put his Napoleon complex on display.’
The skipper has been threatened with a £63,000 fine.
He is accused of fishing 2,160kg of scallops without holding a valid licence. Marine law expert Andrew Oliver told Sky News the skipper had ‘voluntarily’ met with local police. UK authorities must send a list of licensed vessels to Europe so they can fish in EU waters. He added: ‘More recently the vessel seems to have dropped off that list.’
Environment Secretary George Eustice told MPs the Cornelis did have a licence.