Fishing: escalation between Paris and London, who will summon the French ambassador

By Rédaction Actu Published onLa Presse de la MancheSee my news

After the call for calm, a new escalation: London announced, this Thursday, October 28, that it wanted to summon the French ambassador in response to threats of retaliation from Paris, which accuses the United Kingdom of granting licenses of post-Brexit fishing in too few numbers to European fishermen.

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Deeming the actions planned by France "unjustified", the head of British diplomacy Liz Truss instructed her Secretary of State for Europe, Wendy Morton, to "summon the French ambassador", announced a British government spokesman.

“A fight” according to Annick Girardin

But London also deemed the French measures “disproportionate” and warned that they would be the subject of “an appropriate and calibrated response”. The British government only understands "the language of force", retorted Thursday, October 28 in the morning the French Secretary of State for European Affairs Clément Beaune, while the Minister of the Sea Annick Girardin evoked "a fight" to compel the United Kingdom to respect its commitments.

The strengthening of controls of British vessels by the French authorities seems to have already begun with the verbalization during the night of Wednesday to Thursday of two fishing boats, although the ministry specified that they were usual seasonal checks. One of the two vessels “was not on the licensing lists granted to the UK” by the European Commission and France, and was diverted to the port of Le Havre, according to the ministry.

"Political maneuver"

The owner of the confused Scottish trawler told AFP that it was a "misunderstanding" and denounced a "political maneuver". He risks a fine of 75,000 euros and administrative sanctions, the prosecution announced on Thursday 28 October.

On the French side of the Bay of Granville, the fishermen believe, on the contrary, that these checks are long overdue. Since Brexit, “there was no control on the French side. I am checked at least once a month when I go to Jersey, ”says Pascal Delacour, 52, a scallop fisherman.

For Barrie Deas, of the federation representing British fishermen, the “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” strategy will not work. Few British ships dock in French ports while French fishermen are plentiful in British waters, he told the BBC, adding that any escalation would come at the expense of the French.

And in particular French wholesalers, those professionals who wholesale the landed fish and prepare it for distribution. They are very dependent on British products and took a stand on Thursday, October 28 against any “measure as simplistic as it is harmful” which would deprive them of these products.

AFP

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