The Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, referred to “targeted reset measures” against the United Kingdom if London “continues to not apply the agreement” on Brexit.
Le Monde with AFP
It was one of the sensitive topics during the negotiations on the Brexit Agreement, it is always after its implementation: the fishing rights in the Channel are still the subject of tension between France And the United Kingdom, especially around the British Island of Jersey. After granting, at the end of September, 76 licenses to French boats – out of 450 requested by France – Paris shrugged, Friday, October 8.
If France does not intend to “cut the current with every jersey inhabitant this winter, reduce deliveries [of electricity], it is possible,” said Clement Beaune, Secretary of State in European affairs, on the BFM-TV channel . The agreement obtained by the EU negotiator, Michel Barnier, on the Brexit provides for an “export agreement on energy, he noted. So we can regulate the flows. I do not want We come here. It’s one of the political possibilities “.
The post-Brexit agreement, concluded in extremis at the end of last year between London and Brussels, provides that European fishermen can continue to work in some British waters provided that a license, granted. They can prove that they were forever there. The Anglo-Norman Island of Jersey announced on 29 September the granting of 64 final licenses to French boats (on the 169 requested by Paris) and the final rejection of 75 files. The day before, London had granted 12 additional authorizations in its waters, within 6 to 12 nautical miles of its coast (87 requests had been sent to him).
“The British needs us”
“We asked a little more than 450 licenses in total (…). We will hold on the 450”, hammered the French Secretary of State. More widely, “we will take targeted resets” against the United Kingdom if London “continues not to apply the agreement” on Brexit, he added, without specifying if he spoke of France alone or Europeans.
“The British needs us [Europeans] to sell their products, including fishing. They need us for their energy, for their financial services, for their research centers,” said Clement Beaune. “On all of this we have retaliation measures, cooperation measures that we can modulate, reduce whether the British continue not to apply the agreement,” he said. “If the British do not respect their share, we will not do 100% our share.”
Paris has again criticized in the United Kingdom to want to hide the post-Brexit difficulties faced by seeking the “conflict” with Europeans. “They missed Brexit, it’s their choice and it’s their failure, it’s not ours,” said Clement Beaune. “It’s not by typing on our fishermen, threatening each day, being bad players and creating hassle or problems with Europeans, the French, and our fishermen in particular, that you will solve turkey shortages at Christmas, “he launched.