‘Two can play at that game,’ warns Britain in fishing row
Britain has threatened to increase "rigorous" checks on EU vessels and launch dispute talks if France does not back down in a post-brexit row over fishing rights, warning "two can play at that game".
Brexit minister Lord Frost widenedthepossibleresponse to include making life harder for other European Union vessels in order to pressure Paris to retreat on its threats to hamper British boats.
Claiming there is a lack of licences for French boats to fish in UK waters, France is threatening to block British boats from some ports and tighten checks on vessels if the row is not resolved by Tuesday.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was to challenge the French ambassador to the UK, Catherine
Colonna, on France's intentions yesterday afternoon after taking the rare step of ordering an allied nation's envoy to be summoned.
Meanwhile, the captain of the Scottish-registered scallop dredger detained in Le Havre during the diplomatic storm has been told to face a court hearing in August next year. The skipper is understood to be Irish.
French authorities allege the Cornelis Gert Jan vessel did not have a licence, a claim the boat's owner Macduff Shellfish denies. The European Union said the UK authorities withdrew the licence on March 1.
Lord Frost met European Commission vice- president Maros Sefcovic for longscheduled talks on the Northern Ireland Protocol in London on Monday but the pair
also discussed the fishing row.
The Brexit minister raised the "unjustified measures" threatened by France to "disrupt UK fisheries and wider trade, to threaten energy supplies and to block further cooperation between the UK and the EU".
He also made clear, according to a UK G overnment spokesman, that the EU would
be in breach of the post-brexit Trade and Co- operation Agreement (TCA) if France goes ahead with the plan.
"The g overnment is accordingly considering the possibility, in those circumstances, of launching dispute settlement proceedings under the TCA, and of other practical responses, including implementing rigorous enforcement processes and checks on EU fishing activity in UK territorial waters, within the terms of the TCA," the spokesman added.
Mr Sefcovic "encouraged the UK to intensify discussions with the European Commission and France in order to swiftly resolve the issue of pending fishing licences", the EU said.
Earlier, Environment Secretary George Eustice did not
rule out blocking French vessels in retaliation as he struck out at a "completely inflammatory" claim from France's Europe minister Clement Beaune that the only language Britain understands is "the language of force".
Asked how the UK will respond if France does block British trawlers, Mr Eustice responded: "Two can play at that game."
He insisted any British response would be "proportionate", adding: "It's always open to us to increase the enforcement we do on French vessels, to board more of them if that's what they're doing to our vessels – there are other administrative things we can require of vessels."