O United Kingdom it’s at France clashed again over the post-Brexit fisheries dispute on Sunday, with London urging Paris to withdraw its threats and rejecting claims that there was any agreement to try to cool a discussion that could hurt trade between the countries.
The two sides designed different scenarios for the meeting between the prime minister. Boris Johnson and the french president Emmanuel Macron behind the scenes of the dome of the G20 in Rome, and there is little sign that the dispute is being resolved.
After the meeting, a French official said the leaders had agreed to try to ease the conflict. But Johnson’s spokesman denied the allegation and urged Paris to move first if Macron really wanted to put a stop to the situation.
“It will be up to the French to decide whether they want to back out of the threats they have made in recent days about breaching the Brexit agreement. That will be a matter for them,” Johnson’s spokesman told reporters.
Relations with France have become increasingly strained since the UK voted to leave the European Union in 2016. The security pact recently signed by London with the USA it’s at Australia it did little to regain Paris’ trust.
At the heart of the dispute is fishing, an issue that has dominated the Brexit negotiations for years, not because of its economic importance, but because of its enormous political significance for both leaders. If not resolved, the topic could trigger the initiation of dispute measures in the Brexit trade agreement as early as next week.
Paris said it could impose specific measures from Tuesday, including tightening some controls, if the dispute is not resolved. The dispute was sparked when France accused the UK of issuing only half of the fishing licenses it believed it was entitled to.
London rejects the charge, saying it distributes licenses to fish in its waters in accordance with the rules set out in the Brexit agreement. The dispute intensified after the French seized a British fishing boat this week.
Neither of the leaders appears to want to ease the stalemate, with both believing they are right, officials said.
Macron questioned the UK’s credibility, while British Brexit minister David Frost asked for an explanation of a letter that appeared to suggest that France wanted the EU to punish the UK for leaving the bloc.
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