Xavier Bertrand wants to “engage in a showdown” with the British authorities

The President of the Republicans of the Hauts-de-France region, Xavier Bertrand, announced Tuesday, April 2 on France Inter, that he wants “engage in a standoff” with the British authorities regarding marine protected areas. This fishing ban concerns thirteen British marine areas off the French coast. Intended to protect the seabed and the species they shelter, it came into force on March 22. “Our fishermen will disappear”worries the former minister.

Like the Minister Delegate for Europe, Jean-Noël Barrot, Xavier Bertrand says he is in favor of “retaliatory measures”: “We can no longer go fishing with you so you don’t come fishing with us anymore”, he asserts. The president of the Hauts-de-France region recalls that he sent a letter to the Prime Minister on this subject on February 7. He asks the government to contact the British Prime Minister to challenge these thirteen protection zones.

Visiting Boulogne-sur-Mer on Friday, Jean-Noël Barrot cited the establishment of “customs duties on British imports” from “retaliatory measures” possible. Xavier Bertrand is for it, he also urges the minister to act: “When we are in government, we don’t talk about it, we do it.”