/ world today news/ Two Royal Navy ships will be sent from Britain to Jersey in the English Channel amid the ongoing dispute between the island and France over fishing rights after Brexit and concerns about the prospect of a blockade.
Two coastal patrol vessels will “monitor the situation” after French Maritime Minister Anick Girardin warned on Tuesday that the country was ready to take “retaliatory measures” after accusing the Channel island of being slow to issue new licenses to French fishing boats. ships and boats.
A spokesperson for Her Majesty’s Ministry of Defense said on Wednesday:
“Her Majesty’s ships Severn and Tamar are stationed in Jersey to carry out maritime patrols. This is a strictly precautionary measure and has been agreed with the Jersey Government.”
Of course the ships should arrive on Thursday.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke to Jersey Chief Minister Senator John le Fonder and Foreign Affairs Minister Jan Gorst on Wednesday and “underlined his unwavering support” for the island.
A Downing Street spokesman said:
“The Prime Minister and Chief Minister stressed the urgent need for a de-escalation of tensions and dialogue between Jersey and France on fishing access.”
“The Prime Minister has underlined his unwavering support for Jersey. He said any blockade would be completely unjustified,” the statement added.
“As a precautionary measure, Britain will send two coastal patrol vessels to monitor the situation,” said Downing Street.
“They agreed that the UK and Jersey governments will continue to work closely on this matter,” it added.
Britain and Jersey have already criticized France for making “disproportionate” threats after Paris warned it could cut electricity to the island.
The row emerged after the island introduced new requirements under the terms of a trade deal between the UK and the European Union for vessels to provide evidence of their past fishing activities in order to be licensed to operate in Jersey waters.
Earlier, a UK government spokesperson said:
“To threaten Jersey in this way is clearly unacceptable and disproportionate.”
“We are working closely with the European Union and Jersey on the fishing access provisions after the end of the transition period, so we trust that the French will use the mechanisms of our new treaty to solve problems,” London said.
Mr Gorst told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
“This is not the first threat the French have made to either Jersey or the UK since we have been in this new deal.”
“It seems disproportionate to cut the electricity in the name of the need to provide additional details so that we can refine the licenses,” Gorst said.
On Wednesday, Mr Gorst held talks with Marc Lefebvre, president of the La Manche region in northern France, on the “difficult set of fishing license issues”.
“There are a number of important issues that we will continue to work on,” he said.
Jersey receives 95% of its electricity from France via three submarine cables.
Ms Girardin told the French parliament that she was giving Paris “the means” to act against the island if the issue could not be resolved.
“While I regret it has come to this, we will if we have to,” she said.
However, Mr Gorst said the island was not trying to ban vessels that had fished in Jersey waters in the past and insisted the dispute could be resolved amicably.
He said that of the 41 boats that applied for licenses under the new rules last Friday, all but 17 had provided the required evidence.
“The trade deal is clear but I think there is some confusion about how it should be implemented because we absolutely respect the historic rights of French fishermen to fish in Jersey waters as they have for centuries,” he said.
“I think a solution can be found. I am optimistic that we can secure additional time to provide this evidence,” Gorst added.
He said the Jersey government was now seeking permission from London and Brussels to speak directly to French fishermen to resolve the issue.
Translation: SM
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