Paris had asked for a goodwill gesture in the talks and spoke of about 100 missing licenses before the weekend. The aim of the EU Commission was to complete the licensing process by midnight on December 10th. A formal agreement on the expiry of this period was not announced. The EU Commission spoke on Saturday of an important step in a long process to implement the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) concluded between Brussels and the Kingdom after it left the EU. By Saturday, a total of 83 additional fishing permits had been added to the discussions that had been intensified since the end of November. France and the EU Commission now wanted to work together on the missing licenses.
Since Britain left the EU, French fishermen have had to apply for licenses. Because various applications have been rejected, France accuses Great Britain of not adhering to the Brexit agreements. London rejects this. The Channel Islands are much closer to the French coast than to the English coast.
In the event that there was no agreement, Paris had threatened to ask the EU to initiate legal proceedings against the UK. European State Secretary Clément Beaune admitted on Friday, however, that if Britain were to issue some additional licenses as a token of goodwill, this would be noted and the dialogue possibly continued.
The tug-of-war over fishing rights has been causing disputes between France and Great Britain for months and resentment among French fishermen who fear for their livelihoods. At the end of November, they temporarily blocked access to three French ports in protest.
Source: Nachrichten
