French port braces for storm in fishing row with Britain wsau.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wsau.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Boulogne-Sur-Mer – People who earn a living from fishing in the English Channel battened down the hatches on Monday for an escalation of a Franco-British row over fishing licences that they anticipate will be costly on all sides. France alleges Britain is not honouring a post-Brexit deal on access to British fishing grounds and has said that from midnight (2300 GMT) on Monday it will retaliate by stepping up checks on trucks coming from …
By Layli Foroudi and Clotaire Achi BOULOGNE-SUR-MER, France (Reuters) - People who earn a living from fishing in the English Channel battened down the hatches on Monday for an escalation of a Franco-British row over fishing licences that they anticipate will be costly on all sides. France alleges Britain is not honouring a post-Brexit deal https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/post-brexit-fishing-rules-heart-new-uk-france-clash-2021-10-28 on access to British fishing grounds and has said that from midnight (2300 GMT) on Monday it will retaliate https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/brexit-france-readying-sanctions-if-uk-withholds-fishing-licences-2021-10-27 by stepping up checks on trucks coming from Britain and barring British trawlers from docking in French ports. Olivier Leprêtre, president of the regional sea fishing committee for northern France, said he had advised his group s members to steer clear of British waters, in case they were caught up in tit-for-tat British measures. Tracki
April 28, 2021 by archyde
The fishing issue crystallizes tensions. “We are asking for the whole deal, just the deal and as long as it is not in place (..) we will take retaliatory measures in other sectors if it is necessary”, declared on Tuesday the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, on the channel BFM Business.
Friction points remain unresolved, four months after the conclusion of the post-Brexit agreement, and while the European Parliament must approve this Tuesday evening the EU trade agreement with the United Kingdom. Fishermen and the French government are impatient to see the British authorities issue in a trickle manner the licenses which allow professionals to access fish-bearing waters on the British side.
The French government called Friday (23 April) for a quick implementation of a post-Brexit accord on mutual access to fishing waters, after French fishermen blocked trucks trying to bring in catches from Britain overnight.
“We’re acting within the spirit of European solidarity and cooperation with the UK, but the urgency demands an acceleration of our collective efforts,” Europe Minister Clément Beaune and Maritime Minister Annick Girardin said in a statement.
More than a hundred fisherman launched the blockade late Thursday at Boulogne-sur-Mer, France’s busiest fishing hub, to protest a “sham” deal on access in place since Britain left the EU on 1 January.