Sabre-rattling France say the British 'only understand the language of force' after SEIZING Brit trawler and threatening to BLOCK all fishing vessels from the UK in row over licences
Britain 'only understands the language of force,' a French minister has declared as his country detained one British trawler and fined the captain of another amidst a bitter row over post-Brexit fishing rights.
Clement Beaune, France's Europe minister, vowed to get tough with the UK today as he announced a new 'zero tolerance' policy to fishing near the Channel which saw two British vessels stopped by French police on Wednesday.
France is cracking down on British trawlers in its waters after the UK refused to grant licences for dozens of French boats to fish the English side of the Channel, saying they failed to provide proof of their past routes. France says no such proof is needed.
'We need to speak the language of force as I’m afraid it is the only thing this British government will understand,' Mr Beaune said.
One of the British boats, scallop trawler Cornelis Gert Jan, was diverted to the port of Le Havre where it has been detained after the captain was accused of fishing without a valid licence. Tacking data showed the vessel in port on Thursday.
But Andrew Brown, director of MacDuff Shellfish which owns the boat, claimed the vessel was fishing legally and is being held as a 'pawn' amid the bitter dispute.
The Cornelis does appear to have a valid EU fishing licence, the South West Fish Producers Organisation said separately, but may have been missed off a list of approved boats due to an admin error.
It is just the latest escalation in an increasingly bitter row over fishing licences, which this week saw Paris threaten to block British fishing vessels offloading their catch on French shores and potentially cut off power to Jersey and Guernsey. 
Beaune spoke after France detained a British trawler fishing in the waters off its coast and accused the captain of having no licence (trawler pictured right in Le Havre today, with a French police vessel seen left)
Two British boats were stopped by French police while fishing in Baie de la Seine on Wednesday. The captain of one was fined and let go after refusing to let officers board, but the second was detained and taken to Le Havre for allegedly fishing without a licence
Tracking data shows the British vessel departed from Shoreham-by-Sea for Baie de la Seine and was trawling before being stopped and diverted to Le Havre
This map shows the extent of the UK's Exclusive Economic Zone where French vessels now require a licence to fish. Boats also require a licence to fish the waters around Jersey and Guernsey (bottom) but this is administered by the islands and not from Westminster
The French seas ministry said potential punishments for the vessel include 'confiscation of catch and immobilisation of the vessel pending payment'.
'The captain of the vessel [also] risks criminal charges, under the control of the judicial authority,' the ministry added.
The second boat, which has not been identified, did hold a licence but was still fined for 'obstruction' after the captain initially refused to allow police aboard, the French seas ministry said.
Annick Girardin, the French seas minister who has been leading the charge on fishing licences, added: 'This is not a war, but it is a fight.'
Environment minister George Eustice told Parliament the seizure of the boat is being 'urgently' looked into, but ruled out any 'tit for tat' retaliation.
'UK vessels with their licence to fish in EU waters should be allowed to do so uninterrupted,' he said.
'It is also the case that the UK will continue to implement and enforce things in good faith in our EEZ as well.
‘We are not going to get into a retaliatory, tit for tat on this kind of thing.
‘It is important I think that everybody remains calm.’
He also described French threats to block British fishermen from landing catches at their ports as 'disappointing', 'disproportionate' and '[not] compatible with the Trade and Cooperation Agreement or wider international law.'
'If carried through [they] will be met with an appropriate and calibrated response,' he added.
But Mr Beaune showed little room for compromise as he spoke to France's CNews on Thursday, saying: 'Not all French ports will be accessible to British boats anymore.
'Only a few, three or four probably... It will be a very significant limitation in the access to our ports for British boats. And we will have systematic border, veterinary and security controls for British boats.
'We will show no tolerance, no indulgence. We have actually started tonight with security checks, it allowed us to board and search two British boats which did not comply with the rules so no tolerance, no indulgence.
'And we will also carry out systematic controls for lorries carrying goods arriving or leaving to the UK in Calais or elsewhere, not to cut ties and accesses but to be extremely strict with our verifications.
'We cannot be in a climate of trust with a neighbour who does not abide by the rules.'
Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the UK parliament, has granted an urgent question in the House of Commons today to address the fishing dispute.
Meanwhile Annick Girardin, the French seas minister who has been leading French efforts to secure more licences, told RTL radio: 'It is not a war, but it is a fight.
'We are going to ask the European Commission to tell the United Kingdom that it is not respecting its [Brexit] agreement and therefore that retaliatory measures can be put in place.
'The French and the fishermen have rights. An agreement was signed. We must enforce this agreement.
'We have fishing rights, we must defend them and we will defend them.'
The row between Britain and France over fishing was one of the main sticking points in getting a Brexit agreement signed with the EU, and it did not take long after putting pen to paper for the row to erupt anew.
France accuses the UK of granting only half the licences it believes it is 'entitled' to under the text of the agreement, and has demanded immediate action under threat of retaliatory measures which Paris outlined on Wednesday.
But Westminster says France can have all the licences it wants, provided vessels can prove they historically fished in UK waters before the Brexit deal was struck.
As proof, UK authorities have been requesting GPS tracking data - which France says many smaller vessels cannot provide because they are not fitted with trackers.
Both Paris and the EU say the Brexit agreement does not define a standard of proof that French vessels must meet to get a licence, but London argues some proof must be required or the licences are meaningless.
Negotiations between the two sides are ongoing, with the EU urging cooperation and trying to deescalate the situation.
Mr Deas, while speaking to the BBC, said: 'It may be normal enforcement action but against the background of the threatening noises coming from the French Government yesterday, it's very concerning.
'France seems determined to escalate this issue about licenses. I suppose we have to wonder why.
'There's a presidential election coming up in France and all the signs are that the rhetoric has been ramped up ahead of that on the fishing issue.
'I think what the UK government is doing is completely in line with the trade and cooperation agreement, not that that's an agreement that we like but there it is, it's in place.
'This is something that should be settled round the table and my understanding is that those talks have been going on but it's this escalation I think that has got a political dimension to it.
'UK vessels landing into French ports is not massive. It's a bit strange because the French fish in UK waters far more than we fish in their waters and therefore if we descend into a tit for tat relationship I think the French fleet are much more exposed.
'I don't think that's a helpful way to go but it's strange direction for the French to take which is why we conclude that this has all been politicised.'
On Wednesday, the French Government dramatically threatened to block British vessels from some ports next week if the dispute is not resolved.
Paris even went as far as suggesting it could restrict energy supplies to the Channel Islands if no deal is reached.
No 10 said the threats do not seem to be compatible with 'international law' and vowed an 'appropriate and calibrated response' if Paris does not back down.
Since the UK left the economic orbit of the European Union at the start of the year, relations between London and Paris have become increasingly frayed.
France has been angered by a decision from the UK and Jersey last month to reject dozens of licences for French boats to fish in their waters, arguing it breaches the Brexit deal.
The French Government has dramatically warned it will block British vessels from some ports next week if the post-Brexit dispute over fishing licences is not resolved. Pictured: French President Emmanuel Macron delivers his speech on Wednesday in Paris
Downing Street vowed to retaliate against Paris if it goes ahead with the 'disappointing and disproportionate' threat to impose sanctions in an escalation of the row over fishing boats. Pictured: Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaking during Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, October 27Jersey, which is only 14 miles off the French coast, is a British Crown dependency outside of the UK. As such, it has its own powers with regards to who is allowed to fish in its territorial waters.
It has granted licenses based on its interpretation of the UK-EU trade deal, and has accused France of acting disproportionately.
After weeks of negotiations, British authorities have issued more fishing licenses but that still only accounts for 50 per cent of what France believes it 'is entitled to.'
If an agreement over the licenses is not struck by Tuesday, France said it will block British boats from some ports and tighten checks on vessels travelling between France and the UK.
The French ministers for Europe and for maritime affairs said in a joint statement Wednesday that if no agreement is reached by November 2, France will bar British fishing boats from designated ports and tighten customs, security and other controls on any British boats and trucks traveling between France and Britain.
And then in the coming weeks, France said that it 'doesn't exclude' measures targeting energy supplies to Britain, the statement said.
Attal specified that meant the Channel Islands, which are closer to French shores than British ones and rely heavily on electricity supplied by the French grid.
A UK Government spokeswoman responded: 'France's threats are disappointing and disproportionate, and not what we would expect from a close ally and partner.
'The measures beinge threatened do not appear to be compatible with the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and wider international law, and, if carried through, will be met with an appropriate and calibrated response.'
She said that Britain will express its concerns both to the EU and the French Government, and argued that the UK has granted 98 percent of licence applications from European vessels.
But the dispute continues over 31 vessels which the UK did not approve licences for, arguing that they did not have supporting evidence for their applications.
Britain says the majority of the vessels were denied access because they failed to prove they had fished in the six-to-12-mile nautical zone in the years before the UK's referendum on leaving the EU.
Attal, spokesman for the Macron administration, said on Wednesday that Britain's conduct over fishing rights in British waters following Brexit had led to the French 'losing patience'.
And he said that from next Tuesday there would be 'systematic customs and sanitary inspections on imported products arriving in Channel ports' including 'a ban on disembarking seafood products as well as checks on lorries'.
France is one of Britain's biggest export market for fish. In 2019, the trade accounted for £561.1 million, or 27.7 per cent of total exports.
Britain's post-Brexit agreement with the EU states fishermen can continue to fish in British waters if they obtain a licence and prove that they previously were fishing there
France is set to implement a go-slow strategy for customs checks on shipments bound for Britain ahead of Christmas as the row over post-Brexit fishing rights continues. Above: Trucks queuing to enter the port of Calais last year
But the French are now complaining that around 50 per cent of licences have not been issues.
'Our wish is quite simply that the agreement that was reached is respected,' Mr Attal said at a press conference in Paris on Wednesday.
'When we sign an agreement, and that was the case in the context of Brexit, the agreement must be respected. Our patience is reaching its limits.'
He added: 'Matters are clear, and we have said that we will not let the British wipe their feet on the Brexit agreement.'
Under the Brexit agreement, 175 French fishing vessels have the right to fish between six and 12 nautical miles off the British coast, but the UK has only delivered 100 licences.
Paris also says that only 105 licences to fish off Jersey have been delivered when French trawlermen had the right to 216.
Mr Attal said the new retaliatory measures would start on November 2.
He also said that measures related to electricity supplies to the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey could be issued 'in the weeks after'.
Earlier this year, France's European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune warned that his country was ready to step up pressure on the UK using all means possible.
'For example, you could imagine the Channel Islands, where the United Kingdom depends on us for its energy supply,' said Mr Beane.
He did not expand further, but the warning echoed an earlier threat by French Fisheries Minister Annick Girardin who said in May that the fishing row could have an impact on 'the power supply by undersea cable' from France to Jersey.
Discussing the dispute last month, a spokesman for Britain's Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs said tit had a 'reasonable' approach to the issuing of licences.
He said: 'The government has this year issued a large number of licences to EU vessels seeking to fish in our exclusive economic zone and our territorial sea.
'Our approach has been reasonable and fully in line with our commitments in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.'
No comments: