UK summons French ambassador amid post-Brexit fishing rights row
The UK has condemned "unjustified" threats from
France and summoned the country's ambassador, in an escalating row over
post-Brexit fishing rights.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is calling for talks later,
asking Catherine Colonna to explain "disappointing and disproportionate
threats".
A British trawler was seized by France and another fined
during checks off Le Havre overnight into Thursday.
French authorities said the detained vessel did not have a
licence.
However, Environment Secretary George Eustice has insisted
the European Union did grant a licence to the trawler and said it was
"unclear" why, according to reports, it was subsequently withdrawn
from the list given to the EU.
France was angered by a decision from the UK and Jersey last
month to deny fishing licences to dozens of French boats, and argued that it
breached the Brexit deal.
The country has warned it would block British boats from
some ports next week and tighten checks on UK boats and trucks if the dispute
over fishing licences was not resolved by 2 November.
It issued its ultimatum on Wednesday evening, saying it
would begin to impose "targeted measures" from next Tuesday,
including preventing British fishing boats from disembarking at ports and more
checks on UK goods.
France has also warned it could cut electricity supplies to
Jersey, a British Crown dependency, as it previously threatened in May.
The country's Europe minister Clement Beaune told French TV
news channel CNews: "We need to speak the language of force because,
unfortunately, that seems to be the only thing this British government
understands."
On Thursday evening, Ms Truss said in a tweet that she had
asked Europe Minister Wendy Morton to summon the French ambassador for talks on
Friday.
A government spokesman said: "The proposed French
actions are unjustified and do not appear to be compatible on the EU's part
with the Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) or wider international law.
"We regret the confrontational language that has been
consistently used by the French government on this issue, which makes this
situation no easier to resolve."
The detained vessel has been named as the Cornelis Gert Jan.
Its owner, Macduff Shellfish of Scotland, said the vessel
was fishing legally in French waters.
The firm's Andrew Brown said it appeared the Cornelis, based
at Shoreham, in West Sussex, had been "caught up" in the ongoing
UK-France post-Brexit fishing row.
He warned that without "a speedy resolution" the
vessel's catch could be confiscated by the French authorities, and called on
the UK government to "defend the rights of the UK fishing fleet".
French maritime minister Annick Girardin said on Twitter the
trawler was found to be fishing in the Bay of Seine without the proper
licences.
The minister said checks on the British vessels were
standard during the scallop fishing season.
But she added they had also been undertaken against
"the backdrop of the tightening of controls in the Channel, in the context
of discussions on licences with the United Kingdom and the European
Commission".
The UK maintains the rejected applications that sparked the
row did not have enough supporting evidence to show the boats had a history of
fishing in Britain's or Jersey's waters.
A meeting with officials from France, Jersey, the UK and
European Commission on Wednesday led to 162 French boats being given licences
to fish in Jersey's waters from Friday.
The government of Jersey said it was "extremely
disappointed" by the latest threats of sanctions by France. French
trawlers previously protested outside the port of St Helier on the island.
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