France toughens up in fishing dispute with Britain

By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-10-29 15:00

French government spokesperson Gabriel Attal has announced a list of retaliatory measures, preparing France for a potential trade dispute with Britain following the conflicts between the fishermen of the two countries, French local media reported on Thursday.

A joint news release from the French Ministry of the Sea and the Secretariat for European Affairs quoted by newspaper Le Figaro explained the measures taken.

From Nov 2, British fishing vessels will be banned to dock in designated ports. This involves six French ports in Hauts-de-France, Normandy and Brittany.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Thursday, during a visit to Brittany that his country was "always open to talks, morning, noon and night", so long as Britain "honors its commitments".

Britain has restricted access for French fishing boats in its territorial waters, including those around the Channel islands of Jersey and Guernsey off the French coast, which are self-governing but have British protection for defense and foreign affairs.

Months of increasing tension have now resulted in two British boats being fined by French maritime police during checks on Wednesday, and threats of stronger action and disruption to trade unless progress is made.

"I stand by the fact we pursued dialogue until now, we got half of the fishing licenses today, but that's not enough and not acceptable," Europe minister Clement Beaune told CNews TV. "So now, we need to speak the language of strength since that seems to be the only thing this British government understands."

Further measures may include "systematic customs and sanitary checks on products brought to France and a ban on landing seafood", said a government spokesman, with Beaune adding that extra checks could be extended to "other merchandise".

This is understood to mean a potential go-slow at customs checks for vehicles crossing to the United Kingdom, and reducing electricity supplies, with the UK getting much of its power from France.

Despite the industry's small contribution to the British economy, the issue of fishing and control of territorial waters was elevated to great symbolic significance during the 2016 Brexit referendum, which the Leave side fought on the "taking back control" slogan and in subsequent negotiations.

According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, its contribution to the UK economy in 2019 was 0.02 percent, worth around 437 million pounds ($600 million), compared to the 126 billion pounds brought in by the financial services sector.

UK authorities called France's threats "disappointing and disproportionate, and not what we would expect from a close ally and partner".

Despite having been such a crucial chip in the Brexit poker game, leaders of the British fishing industry warned earlier this year that its treatment in the withdrawal agreement reached at the end of 2020 would result in the issue of fishing quotas remaining "politically toxic "for decades.

Barrie Deas, chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations, told the Financial Times in July that the deal had broken "very, very solid assurances" from senior government figures about taking control of UK waters and the increasing quota allowance of British boats.

This article is reprinted from China Daily.

If there is a copyright, please inform us in time, we will delete it right the first time.