France – United Kingdom: the fishing war breaks out
Is Macron looking for trouble?
More French boats could be boarded in retaliation for detaining the Scottish scallop trawler, the UK warns, as fishing squabbles intensify.
The French gendarmerie patrol boat Athos and a British fishing vessel Cornelis Gert Jan were seen moored in the port of Le Havre after France seized a British fishing vessel fishing in its territorial waters without a license on Thursday in Le Havre, France. October 28, 2021.
The UK environment secretary threatened to take on more French vessels and strengthen enforcement mechanisms in response to France's detention of a trawler in French waters on Thursday.
Speaking on BBC television on Friday, Environment Secretary George Eustice said Britain had its own countermeasures in mind if Paris were to escalate a quarrel over fishing licenses for French trawlers in British waters.
"Of course it is always possible to always increase the enforcement of the rules we do on French ships, to load more of them if that is what they are doing to our ships," said Eustice, adding that there were "other administrative things that we may require. ships ".
The minister noted that further escalation was not something Britain wanted to do. Eustice said the priority was to sort things out with the European Commission and the French ambassador in London, who was summoned to the Foreign Office to explain French actions later on Friday.
"We obviously reserve the right to be able to respond in a proportionate way," said Eustice.
The British government summons the French ambassador "to explain the disproportionate threats made against the UK" as the fisheries controversy intensifies.
On Thursday, the Cornelis Gert Jan, a scallop dredger, was boarded and taken to the northern port of Le Havre after her crew failed to prove they had the right to fish in French waters.
The ship's captain was summoned for a court hearing in 2022. Scottish company Macduff Shellfish, which uses the boat, has denied all French allegations, claiming it has the required licenses.
On Friday, French Agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie reiterated France's threat to sanction the UK. Paris has promised to cut off the supply of electricity to the UK and to increase border controls on British goods unless London no longer licenses French fishing vessels.
Britain has repeatedly stated that 98% of EU fishing license applications have been granted and reported concern over the "conflicting language" used by the French government.
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The article France – United Kingdom: the fishing boat war breaks out comes from ScenariEconomici.it .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/francia-regno-unito-scoppia-la-guerra-dei-pescherecci/ on Fri, 29 Oct 2021 11:32:19 +0000.