The UK Foreign Minister, Liz Truss, has given the French Government a period of 48 hours to withdraw its threats in relation to the fishing dispute in the English Channel and has assured that London will take action against behavior that it considers « Unfit for an ally. ‘
Truss has thus suggested that French President Emmanuel Macron is making ” unreasonable threats ” given that he faces a growing loss of support in the French electoral framework.
The minister pointed out that “no agreement has been reached” and stated that ” France has made threats that affect the British fishing industry.” “They need to be withdrawn,” he told Sky News television.
In this sense, he stressed that if Paris does not withdraw the threats, the Government will be forced to make use of mechanisms included in the trade agreement reached with the EU, something that could lead to “taking direct measures on trade issues.”
‘The French have behaved unfairly. This is not included in trade agreements, “he insisted before recalling that if someone” behaves like this, you have the right to take the necessary measures against them. “
For her, France must ” stop threatening British vessels , must stop threatening the ports in the channel and accept that they work within the legal limits when it comes to Russian fishing licenses in accordance with the established agreement.”
The French Executive last week put on the table a battery of possible sanctions, including a ban on the docking of British boats, in response to the reduction of permits granted to French fishermen to fish in Canal waters. Paris does not rule out limiting electricity supply either.
About 1,700 European vessels are licensed to fish in British waters. According to Truss, the country will “without a doubt” take legal action in the coming days if the French government does not back down. “This matter needs to be resolved in the next 48 hours,” he asserted.
British Brexit Minister David Frost confirmed on Saturday that his country is “actively” contemplating the implementation of the mechanism for the resolution of disputes stipulated in the exit agreements from the European Union to resolve the current fisheries dispute with France. .
For its part, the French Government insists that almost half of the license applications submitted by French fishermen have not yet been accepted despite having submitted the documents requested by the British authorities to corroborate compliance with the Brexit agreements. .
Under the Brexit trade agreement reached at the end of 2020, European fishermen can operate in British waters as long as they can demonstrate that they previously operated there
