UK ‘actively considering’ legal action against France over fishing row
The UK’s Brexit minister says the Government is ‘actively considering’ starting legal proceedings against France over a fishing row.
It comes as Boris Johndon refused to rule out triggering the dispute mechanism clause in the Brexit trade agreement after suggesting France had breached the terms of the deal.
Lord Frost rallied against comments made by French prime minister Jean Castex, who told European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen that the UK should be shown ‘it causes more damage to leave the EU than to stay in’.
In a series of tweets, the Conservative peer said: ‘To see it expressed in this way is clearly very troubling and very problematic in the current context when we are trying to solve many highly sensitive issues, including on the Northern Ireland Protocol.
‘This is all the more so as the threats made by France this week to our fishing industry, to energy supplies, and to future co-operation, for example through the Horizon research programme, unfortunately form part of a pattern that has persisted for much of this year.
‘As I set out yesterday to (European Commission vice-president) Maros Sefcovic), these threats, if implemented on November 2, would put the EU in breach of its obligations under our trade agreement.
‘So we are actively considering launching dispute settlement proceedings.’
Prime Minister Mr Johnson said he was ‘worried’ Paris ‘may be about to become in breach, or is already in breach’ of the free trade deal agreed – and left the possibility of escalating the issue on the table.
Asked by Sky News before his G20 meetings in Rome whether he was ruling out triggering the deal’s dispute resolution mechanism, Mr Johnson replied: ‘No, of course not. I don’t rule that out.’
It comes after French president Emmanuel Macron, in an interview with the Financial Times, accused the UK of not keeping its Brexit pledges on fishing as he said London lacked ‘credibility’.
France is threatening to block British boats from its ports and tighten checks on vessels if an issue over a lack of licences for small French vessels to fish in British waters is not resolved by Tuesday.
But Jean-Marc Puissesseau, president and chairman of the ports of Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer, described the argument as ‘ridiculous’ as he urged both sides to dial down talk of threats and retaliation.
Speaking from Rome, Mr Johnson left the door open to finding a resolution with Mr Macron as he described the UK as being ‘very keen to work with our friends and partners’.
The fishing row escalated significantly this week after French authorities accused a Scottish-registered scallop dredger of fishing without a licence.
Pensioner finds out diamond she 'almost threw in the bin' is worth £2,000,000The captain of the Cornelis Gert Jan vessel, understood to be an Irish national, was detained in Le Havre during the diplomatic storm.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss took the rare step of ordering an allied nation’s ambassador to the Foreign Office on Friday afternoon to challenge her over France’s stance.
Ministers have promised to retaliate if France does not back down.
The dispute revolves around licences for small boats, which are issued only if the vessels can demonstrate a history of fishing in British waters.
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