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The French Government announced that two British fishing vessels were fined in French waters on the night of Wednesday 27 October. One of the boats was detained in the port of Le Havre, an action that comes amid tensions between the two countries over the fishing licenses in British waters after Brexit. “It is not a war, but it is a combat”, declared the French Minister of the Sea, Annick Girardin.
France confirmed this Thursday, October 28, the arrest of a British fishing boat off the coast of the port of Le Havre after fining him for different infractions at a time when relations between the two countries are strained precisely because of the fishing rights that Paris demands to London on account of Brexit.
The French Government indicated in a statement that one of its Gendarmerie patrol boats carried out controls on two ships in the Seine Bay after its decision to tighten supervision in the English Channel “in the context of the discussions on licenses. with the United Kingdom and the European Commission “.
One of the fishing boats initially tried to evade the control of the patrol boat, according to the French Ministry of the Sea, until it agreed to allow them to carry out checks after a series of warnings. The agents did not find any infraction, but they fined him for resisting their control, among others.
“It is not a war, but it is a combat”
The gendarmes found that the second British fishing vessel did not appear on the licensing lists agreed by the European Commission and France to the United Kingdom and was taken to the port of Le Havre where a procedure has been opened for it.
“This represents important economic consequences for the shipowner,” the Ministry of the Sea underlined in its statement, adding that the captain could be subject to “criminal sanctions.”
The reinforcement of the controls in the English Channel are the first consequence of the warnings of the French Executive that by mouth of its spokesman, Gabriel Attal, warned that they were “running out of patience” and reiterated that they are preparing a series of measures of retaliation if there is no agreement before the end of the month.
The Minister of the Sea, Annick Girardin, declared this October 28 on the radio ‘RTL’ that this conflict “is not a war, but it is a fight. The French and the fishermen have rights. An agreement was signed and we have to apply it” , in reference to the Brexit guidelines.
Annick Girardin
💬 Brexit / pêche: “Ce n’est pas la guerre, c’est un combat”, @AnnickGirardin dans #RTLMatin. “Nous allons demand from the European Commission of signifier au Royaume-Uni which in respect of country are accord and donc who des measures of retorsion peuvent être mises en place” pic.twitter.com/XOFkWbkFNE
– RTL France (@RTLFrance) October 28, 2021
The Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, said this Thursday in statements to the television channel ‘CNews’ that the British Government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson understands only “the language of force” in this dispute.
London summons the French ambassador to explain the “threats” from Paris
UK Foreign Minister Liz Truss said she had asked Secretary of State for Europe Wendy Morton to summon the French ambassador to London.
Truss said that the call to the diplomat is to “explain” the position of the French Executive before what he described as the “disappointing and disproportionate threats” from Paris in the midst of the fisheries dispute.
In addition, a spokesman for the UK Executive said that “the threats from France are disappointing and disproportionate and not what we would expect from an ally.” He also assured that the measures determined by Paris “do not seem compatible” with international law and that if carried out “they will receive an appropriate response.”
“We will convey our concerns to the European Commission and the French Government,” said the spokesman, who recalled that the United Kingdom “has granted 98% of the EU vessel license applications to fish in our waters.”
France considers that, under the Brexit agreement, the United Kingdom has not granted French fishermen almost half of the fishing licenses to which it claims they are entitled to fish in British waters; Therefore, it prepares systematic controls on fishery products arriving from the United Kingdom.
With EFE and Reuters
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