PARIS (dpa-AFX) – In the Brexit dispute over fishing rights, the French Secretary of State for Europe, Clément Beaune, stepped up and threatened London with retaliatory measures in financial services. About 40 licenses for French fishermen for British waters are still missing, said Head of State Emmanuel Macron’s confidante of the Sunday newspaper “Journal du Dimanche”. He is confident that these licenses will be granted. “Otherwise we will not hesitate to retaliate in other areas, such as access to financial services, where the British are interested.”
In the past week, the fishing dispute between London and Paris escalated off the Channel Island of Jersey, which belongs to the British Crown but not to the United Kingdom. Dozens of French fishermen temporarily blocked the island port of Saint Helier – within sight of British and French warships. In the dispute over fishing licenses, France had threatened to retaliate if necessary and to turn off the power to Jersey.
Beaune was confident that Jersey would withdraw additional license conditions for fishermen. Regarding the fisheries crisis following the UK’s final withdrawal from the EU, he said: “Don’t fool yourself. We as the European Union will be constantly tested by the British for our speed of reaction and determination.”
In the Brexit trade pact, it was agreed that EU fishermen would still be able to fish 75 percent of what they used to be during a transition period of five and a half years in British waters. The quotas should then be set annually. Services were not included in the negotiations on the Brexit trade pact. It was only at the end of March that London and the EU agreed on the basic principles of voluntary cooperation in the regulation of financial services.
–
