France threatened to sue Britain in just days after the ongoing dispute about fishing licenses reached a breaking point.
Clement Beaune, one of President Emmanuel Macron’s most trusted aides, called on the EU to start legal action as he accused the UK of refusing to grant enough fishing boat access.
French skippers no longer have free access to UK waters. Instead, they must apply for permits.
While France received 93% of all the licenses it applied for in Britain, Macron claimed that UK officials deliberately withheld another 73.
Clement Beaune, one of President Emmanuel Macron’s most trusted aides, called on the EU to start legal action as he accused the UK of refusing to grant enough fishing boat access
The British Government has handed over 23 additional permits as a gesture of goodwill – but it has failed to defuse tensions.
Speaking yesterday, Mr Beaune said: ‘We are going to ask the European Commission to initiate a legal procedure for the remaining licences that we feel that we are entitled to.’
He made these comments after France had banned British travelers due to concerns about Omicron.
The announcements also came a week following militant French fishing barons renewed the threat of disrupting cross-Channel trading and preventing Christmas deliveries to Britain.
The British Government has handed over 23 additional permits as a gesture of goodwill – but it has failed to defuse tensions
Macron, yesterday meeting industry heads at his residence, Elysee Palace. This was an obvious sign that he supports their plans. Olivier Le Nezet, the head of Brittany’s powerful fisheries committee who took part in the talks, warned that France would not surrender in the long-running row. ‘The fight continues. It will end only when we will get the licences,’ he said.
Industry sources said Mr Macron promised the fishermen that he would hit British vessels with more red tape – such as extra checks when docking in French ports from January 1.
Yesterday a European Commission spokesman said they will ‘examine together with the French authorities the legal circumstances around every requested licence which has not been granted’.
France’s win could result in heavy tariffs on British fish exports and even UK trawlers being expelled from EU waters.
A British Government source said: ‘We have licensed vessels where sufficient evidence has been provided to demonstrate they qualify for access under the Brexit deal. Where that evidence has not been provided, licences have not been issued.’
n EU plans to change its own laws to ensure the free flow of medicines between Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a ‘step in the right direction’ but ‘not far enough’, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said.
Maros Sefcovic, vice president of the European Commission, stated that he hopes the action will create momentum to settle other issues around Brexit and the Irish Sea border.
However, Lord Frost, the Brexit minister expressed dismay that no solutions had been found to other issues.