France will start legal proceedings on the fisheries dispute with the United Kingdom right after the end of the year, the minister responsible, Clement Beaune, said on Thursday. According to Beaune, there will first be a meeting with EU representatives on 4 January and the French government will go to court immediately afterwards.

Brexit has caused a conflict between the two countries over fishing permits in the North Sea. These need to be completely revised now that the UK is no longer a member of the European Union. France accuses the British of placing French fishermen at a disadvantage when it comes to licensing.

The British said earlier that they had granted a licence to all European fishermen who were already fishing in British waters before Brexit. France now claims to be at 93% of the target number.

The conflict escalated a few weeks ago when France seized a British trawler because it would not have the proper licence. Then there were blockades in ports and the French government threatened to take legal action. So now Paris is going through with it.