The EU’s Brexit negotiator told Britain on Tuesday that it must fully implement the terms of its exit from the bloc, particularly on fisheries and Northern Ireland, or it risks losing credibility on the world stage.
“A signature is important, it reflects the trust that the UK must continue to deserve by keeping its commitments,” Michel Barnier told reporters from the Europresse association.
“It is not what you are doing in Northern Ireland today, and it is not what you are doing with the fishermen,” he added.
He urged London to abide by the terms of Brexit on these two crucial issues “precisely as they were drafted in the two agreements of October 2019 and December 2020.”
Tensions over fishing erupted last week when French boats rallied off the island of Jersey in the English Channel, claiming they were being denied a license to fish off its shores, despite the Brexit promise of maintain access.
British navy vessels and French patrol boats were dispatched, and although French fishermen withdrew, it remains unclear whether Jersey and Britain will apply new rules that Brussels has not endorsed.
“We have a serious problem in relation to Jersey, which I do not understand, unless it is a question of unwillingness,” Barnier said.
“There will probably be consequences,” he added.
The EU has already launched legal proceedings against London for a unilateral six-month delay in imposing customs controls on goods arriving in Northern Ireland from the UK.
The system aims to prevent a return from a land border with Ireland, but keeps Northern Ireland subject to EU rules on goods.
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