On his arrival in Glasgow for the COP26, Monday, November 1, Emmanuel Macron discussed for long minutes with Boris Johnson, under the gaze of the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres. The head of state had already found the British Prime Minister for a tête-à-tête of nearly half an hour on Sunday on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome. A first since the G7, last June.
In their nets, the two leaders have raised a dispute that they have not been able to disentangle since the entry into force of Brexit: fishing licenses. While the subjects of discord accumulate between the two countries, franceinfo summarizes the stakes of this file.
Since Brexit, French fishermen must apply for new fishing licenses
The Brexit agreement, concluded in extremis at the end of 2020 between London and Brussels, provides that European fishermen can continue to work in certain British waters, if they prove that they were fishing there before. Access to the 6 to 12 mile fish-rich area, which stretches from the south of the North Sea to Wales, is in theory guaranteed to vessels already going there during the 2012-2016 reference period. For this, however, they must apply for new licenses in London.
The islands sector Anglo-Norman of Jersey and Guernsey, very close to the French coast, is the subject of more bitter discussions. Each boat must provide proof of at least eleven days of fishing in this zone, between February 1, 2017 and January 30, 2020. French and British argue over the nature and extent of the supporting documents to be provided, in particular for small vessels without tracing system or for new boats having replaced an older boat.
Paris accuses London of not issuing enough permits
France criticizes the United Kingdom for granting too few licenses to its fishermen. In these two still disputed fishing zones, London and Jersey had granted a little more than 210 definitive licenses at the end of October, while Paris is still asking for 244. “Almost 50% of the licenses to which we are entitled are missing”, denounced the spokesman of the government, Gabriel Attal, at the exit of the Council of Ministers on October 27.
The spokesman for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson replied by advancing a statistic which differs greatly from the figure brandished by the French. “It is important to stress that 98% of fishing licenses have been granted”, he retorted. And to add: “We continue to work with the French government to grant more based on the evidence it provides.”
An assertion denied by the Minister of the Sea, Annick Girardin. “The 98% figure for UK licenses granted to Europeans is wrong, she dropped on Twitter October 28. Only 90.3% were. Obviously, the missing 10% is for the French. “
France threatens UK with imminent retaliation
For lack of progress, Paris threatens to prohibit British fishing vessels from unloading their cargo in French ports and to strengthen customs controls of all trucks from Tuesday, November 2, early. The Elysee said that a point would be made on Tuesday on the implementation or not of these retaliatory measures.
The Minister of the Sea had explained in mid-October that she wanted a comprehensive solution by November 1. The island of Jersey has indeed given a period of one month – or until October 30 – to 70 French boats to provide new information and reopen their case. These vessels being, for the moment, on the red list, they will no longer be able to spawn in Jersey waters as of November 1.
This chopper date only concerns Jersey. The situation is a little different for Guernsey and British waters, where discussions remain open. Guernsey does not have a deadline and renews the provisional licenses on a monthly basis. The autonomous government is committed to continuing to do so.
“The ball is in the British court”, said Emmanuel Macron after his interview with Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the G20, Sunday, October 31. The Head of State explained that he had given the British Prime Minister, who demands a lifting of the French threats of sanctions, a document proposing a “method” for a “progressive evolution” on fishing licenses. “If the British do not make any move, obviously the measures planned from November 2 will have to be put in place because it will be an end of inadmissibility”, warned the head of state, saying “hope (…) for a positive response”.
London in turn issues an ultimatum to Paris
These threats of reprisals are judged “disproportionate” by London which, rare, announced at the end of October that it would summon the French ambassador to London, without specifying a date. Far from subsiding, the tension was accentuated before the G20 with the threat of London to implement “rigorous controls” on European ships spawning in its waters.
At the end of the summit in Rome, while Emmanuel Macron was speaking in another press conference, Boris Johnson declared that the British position “did not change”, stressing that the discussion with his counterpart had been “frank”. His spokesperson, however, clarified: “If the French government comes up with proposals to mitigate the threats it has made, we will welcome them”.
The very next day, the British Foreign Minister called on the French government to withdraw its threats of sanctions. “The French have made unreasonable threats, including against the Channel Islands and our fishing industry”, Liz Truss told SkyNews (article in English), Monday November 1st. Lack of solution “within 48 hours”, the head of diplomacy clarified that the British government would rely on the dispute settlement mechanism under the post-Brexit trade agreement to ask for “compensatory measures”.