According to France, the United Kingdom is not complying with the Brexit agreement by refusing EU fishing vessels access to its territorial waters. According to Paris, French fishing should not be held hostage by the British for political reasons. France will announce in two weeks whether it will take action against the UK.
The British Ministry, which deals with fishing licences, has previously granted 12 of the 47 licences applied for for small boats to fish in British waters. The other licences were refused because these boats could not prove sufficiently that they had also fished in the waters in the past, the Department said.
France, for its part, threatened to block regulations that would allow UK financial companies to do business in the EU if the British failed to comply with Brexit’s fisheries agreements. Earlier this year, the countries were still deploying warships on the island of Jersey, following protests about restricting fishing for French boats in British waters.
Fishing was one of the most controversial issues in the UK’s exit negotiations. Countries such as Ireland, France and Spain wanted to protect employment in their coastal communities, while the UK was trying to regain control of its territorial waters.
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