Another escalation was averted when Paris initially suspended an ultimatum for punitive measures set for Tuesday. Whether there is any reason for optimism will not be revealed until Thursday at the earliest, when the British
is expected to hold talks with France’s Secretary of State for Europe, Clément Beaune, in Paris.
Both sides presented the development as a success for their own side. “We welcome the fact that France has withdrawn from the threats made last Wednesday,” said the British Environment Minister George Eustice on Tuesday the news channel Sky News. It has always emphasized that the aim was to de-escalate the situation and “keep the door open” to discuss the issue of further licenses, should further evidence be submitted by France or Great Britain, Eustice continued.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson stressed at a press conference at the COP26 world climate summit in Glasgow on Tuesday evening that Great Britain had not changed its position.
Beaune, however, had announced on Twitter that there had been signals from the British side that the negotiations could be accelerated. A reaction to French proposals is expected on Wednesday.
Paris accuses London of not adhering to the Brexit agreements and of refusing to license French fishermen against the agreement. London denies the allegations. It is about a few dozen boats that have not received a license due to a lack of documents.
Specifically, the fishermen are required to provide evidence that they fished in British waters before Brexit. Smaller French fishing boats have reportedly had difficulties in providing this evidence due to a lack of technical capabilities.
Paris had threatened to close some ports to British fishermen from this Tuesday and to tighten controls on British boats and trucks. London criticized the threatened sanctions as “disproportionate and inappropriate”. The British government has announced countermeasures in the event of an emergency. Foreign Minister Lizz Truss, for example, brought the dispute settlement mechanism agreed in the Brexit agreement into play in order to achieve “compensatory measures”. Frost even spoke of “retaliation”.
The EU Commission said on Tuesday that a video conference organized by Brussels on Monday had enabled a roadmap for further action in various aspects. The talks, in which high-ranking EU officials, France, Great Britain and the Channel Islands Jersey and Guernsey participate, should therefore continue on Tuesday and in the coming days.
Meanwhile, reports of a British fishing trawler arrested by France in the port of Le Havre caused confusion. Despite reports to the contrary, it had not yet been released on Tuesday. The ship will continue to be held in the port of the French city of Le Havre, said a Johnson’s spokesman in London on Tuesday. Britain’s Environment Minister George Eustice had previously said that he assumed that the cutter had since been released.
The fixing of the cutter was initially interpreted as part of a tougher pace on the French side. However, the BBC reported, citing UK government officials, that the operation was considered a routine operation unrelated to the dispute over fishing licenses. At the request of the German Press Agency, there was initially no comment from the French authorities on Tuesday.
Source From: Nachrichten
