Since the entry into force of Brexit on February 1, 2020, Franco-British disputes have not been lacking and the signing of the trade agreement between the European Union and England is far from having settled all the questions. London announced Thursday, October 28, the upcoming summons of the French Ambassador to give explanations on the post-Brexit fishing license crisis. This episode lengthens the list of subjects of disagreement between the two countries.
Post-Brexit fishing licenses
Despite the agreement between London and Brussels, in force since January 1, European fishermen’s access to British waters continues to cause friction. Licenses had to be granted to certain French boats in order to continue fishing in British waters after Brexit. But not all of them have been delivered to date.
In April, when the fishermen of Boulogne-sur-Mer demanded this right, the French government threatened London with “retaliatory measures” in other sectors, notably financial, if the agreement was not implemented.
This threat was reiterated on October 27 by Paris which notes that “almost 50% of licenses” post-Brexit fishing licenses have still not been issued. On this file, Thierry Breton, the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, supports France, specifying that “from the start, good faith has not been on the British side“. London now has until November 2 to comply with its commitments.
The Northern Irish Protocol
Another subject of friction, the question of the border between Ireland (European country) and Northern Ireland (which is part of the United Kingdom). This last remains “an entry point into the common market” European Union, according to the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier. The Northern Irish Protocol provides for the establishment of customs controls within the United Kingdom, between Northern Ireland and the rest of the country in order to tax products that may then enter Ireland, and therefore into the EU , this in order to avoid the return of a border between the two Ireland.
However, London has decided to postpone for six months these controls which were to start on April 1. Paris accuses its neighbor “to use the particular situation of Northern Ireland to demand a renegotiation of the Northern Irish protocol”, to analyse The world (Article reserved for subscribers.) The EU has launched a case against the United Kingdom, accusing it of violating the treaty.
On October 12, the British Secretary of State for Brexit, David Frost, presented a very revised version of the post-Brexit Northern Irish protocol that angered Europeans.
Control of the French coasts
London refused to have a common framework with the European Union concerning foreign and security policy issues. However, at the end of July, regarding the illegal crossings of the Channel, the United Kingdom pledged to pay 62.7 million euros to France, between 2021 and 2022, “in order to support France in its action to equip and fight against irregular immigration” and to finance the strengthening of controls on the French coasts.
But on October 9, the Home Secretary, Gerald Darmanin, criticized the United Kingdom for not having paid the promised funds.. “We call on the British to keep their promise of funding since we hold the border for them”, he recalled. For its part, theBritish Home Secretary Priti Patel criticizes Paris for not holding the border firmly enough.
The submarine contract
On September 16, Australia ended the “contract of the century“with France in order to conclude an agreement, named Aukus, with the United States and the United Kingdom, which will provide it with nuclear-powered submarines. This turnaround was taken as a “blow in the back”, according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian. Because France and the United Kingdom share strategic interests and are bound by the Lancaster House military treaties signed in 2010, which establish a defense and security partnership.