French accuse UK of igniting fishing war
Three-quarters of small boats denied access to British waters in post-brexit regime
A FRESH Brexit fishing war threatened to break out last night after the Government rejected three-quarters of applications from small French boats to fish waters around Britain.
Ministers last night announced that just 12 licences would be granted to French vessels under 12 metres in length, out of a total of 47 that had applied to fish the UK’S inshore waters.
Jersey will also confirm today that it is granting fewer licences than the 169 requested by France, only months after a French flotilla surrounded its main port of St Helier amid a row over access to its waters.
Last night France’s Europe minister threatened “retaliatory action”, while fishing leaders branded the move “a declaration of war on the water and on the land”. The flashpoint threatens to plunge personal relations between Boris Johnson and Emmanuel Macron to new depths, following tensions over the new Uk-australia-us defence pact.
It also follows a summer that has seen London and Paris at odds over the record-breaking numbers of migrants crossing the Channel, with powers for Border Force to turn back boats to Calais expected to be used this week after being signed off by the Prime Minister.
The move comes ahead of the Conservative Party conference and amid the ongoing fuel crisis, and ministers may hope the move shifts attention back on to Brexit.
Last night Clément Beaune, France’s Europe minister, responded furiously, telling the radio station RTL: “We will not hesitate to take retaliatory action, collectively. We understand and share the exasperation of our fishermen,” he added. “We cannot cooperate in confidence with the UK while the deal is not respected.”
Annick Girardin, the French maritime minister, said: “French fishing must not be held hostage by the British for political ends.”
UK government officials said the licences had been granted based on the French vessels’ historical links to the fishing grounds, with one adding that the UK had “bent over backwards to be as generous as we could be”.
But fishermen in north-west France have threatened to respond by blocking British goods destined for Europe from leaving ports. Olivier Le Nézet, president of the Brittany fishermen’s committee, called the figure of 12 out of 47 “a declaration of war on the water and on the land”, adding that French fishermen would see to it that “not a single British product lands on French soil”.
Bertrand Sorre, French MP for the Manche département, opposite the Channel Islands, said: “It’s an extreme provocation on the part of British officials and very clearly France won’t accept it and I want the EU to enter into a much firmer negotiation.”
Michel Barnier, the former EU Brexit negotiator, who is running against Mr Macron for the French presidency, suggested the decision could have significant repercussions for Uk-french
‘It’s an extreme provocation on the part of British officials and very clearly France won’t accept it’
relations. “There are too many points of disappointment from our side and I think it could be difficult,” he said.
France’s fisheries ministry previously warned that its reaction would be “proportionate to the British offer”, with officials said to be discussing a co-ordinated response with Brussels last night.
The French government previously threatened to cut off electricity supplies to Jersey over so-called fish wars.
“There will be actions that will go beyond what you can imagine and I’m not just talking about cutting off electricity to Jersey,” Mr Le Nézet said. “We will lead this battle against the UK.”
It comes just days after Mr Johnson sought to rebuild bridges with the French president, after Paris reacted furiously to the news that it had been excluded from a submarine and security pact between the UK, US and Australia, known as Aukus.
The move is also likely to have implications for ongoing efforts by Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, to get the French to step up efforts to combat the record-breaking number of migrants crossing the Channel.
The UK is now braced for French retaliation, with Mr Macron’s response expected to be particularly severe due to the potential implications for his electoral prospects ahead of the presidential election in April next year.