There was fish on the menu of Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday evening. And not just as one of the main issues of their Brexit negotiations.
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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gathered on Wednesday evening for a three-hour dinner in the Berlaymont building, the European Commission’s headquarters in Brussels. It did not come to a Brexit deal, although it was decided that the negotiations would continue until Sunday.
After the pumpkin soup, the two were served scallops as a starter, not coincidentally one of the most controversial topics in their negotiations. British and French fishermen have been clashing for years over who has access rights to the scallops in the Bay of the Seine, off the coast of Normandy in the north of France. In 2018 there were even skirmishes on the water that were renamed the ‘Scallop Wars’, or the ‘Coquille Wars’. A no deal Brexit would be expected to unleash these “wars”.
The main course also consisted of a “politically charged” fish: steamed turbot, served with mashed potatoes with wasabi and warm vegetables. The United Kingdom would like to include the “demersal” turbot (a fish that lives close to the seabed and is found in British territorial waters) in the trade agreement. This means that after 1 January European fishermen will no longer (or much less) fish for turbot. The “pelagic” mackerel (which often swims close to the surface and can easily be caught in nets) may be left out of Johnson.
The pavlova cake with fruit and coconut sorbet for dessert was less “controversial”. Hopefully it tasted.
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