British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman said: “We have never set a deadline (…) they have set one, but it is not the one we are working on.”
The spokesman added that British Environment Minister George Eustice is expected to return to talks with the European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Virginigus Sinkevicius, on Friday evening, after speaking on Wednesday, stressing that “all discussions on this topic were constructive.”
“There is an ongoing technical process that is based on evidence and not on deadlines,” he added.
The issue is a source of growing tension between London and Paris, which accuses the UK of not complying with the agreement to grant fishing licenses.
French Navy Minister Annick Girardin warned today that if the required licenses are not granted by Friday, referring to the deadline set by Brussels to resolve the fishing disputes, France will ask for a meeting at the European level and will join “the litigation”.
“If all licenses are not granted by tomorrow night (Friday), France will ask for a meeting of the Association Council,” said Girardin, who is trying to ensure the implementation of a post-Brexit deal.
“We’ve got 1,004 licenses and we’re still waiting for 94. It’s not a detail, it’s a basic question: it’s about fishermen and families. One job at sea means four jobs on land,” the minister added to the French Senate’s European Affairs Committee.
Under the ‘Brexit’ agreement signed at the end of 2020 between London and Brussels, European fishermen can continue to work in British waters, provided they can prove they have fished there before.
However, the French and the British still did not understand each other about the nature and extent of the supporting documents to be submitted.
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