The meeting between the Head of the French State and the British Prime Minister, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome, was very awaited.
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Neither image, nor joint statement, head-to-head between Emmanuel Macron and Boris Johnson was very expected on Sunday, October 31, on the sidelines of the G20 summit of Rome. It must be said that in recent days, the disputes on the fishery has come to tender relations fairly to drifting from Brexit, here are ten months.
On force test background about fishing licenses, the French president tried to sketch a form of “de-escalation” with the head of the British government. It’s about “lowering tensions and stabilizing the situation,” said the Elysee after the interview. It remains to be seen if a truce is really likely to be profiled. “It is to the French government to promote a de-escalation by removing its threats,” said Boris Johnson spokesperson.
The climate remains electric. Moreover, Sunday morning, the French Head of State was very clear for the half-hour of a qualified “working meeting”. He asked “requirement, serious and respect” to his interlocutor, after a few days when the reproaches and warnings rushed between the two shores of the Channel. Mr. Macron waits for the British Prime Minister “respects his signature and take his commitments seriously”, as negotiated to the Forceps before the release of the country of the European Union. It first concerns the fishery, in the eyes of Paris, but also the North Irish protocol, which provides controls in the sea of Ireland between the province and the rest of Great Britain. A compromise that the Conservative government does not apply to date.
London denounces “unjustified” threats
The urgency of the moment is, of course, to try to appease the conflict on fishing. Lack of more licenses for the benefit of his fishermen. Paris has threatened in recent days of taking resets, in order to complicate the activity of British vessels in French waters, or even reduce the supply of the Channel-Norman Islands in electricity.
For London, the threats of French retaliation are “unjustified”: Since Brexit, European fleets must acquire fishing licenses to continue fishing in British waters, including the 6 to 12 nautical miles area off the United Kingdom and Anglo-Norman waters. Small boats must prove that they have fished in these waters between 2017 and 2020, according to the terms of the post-Brexit trade agreement.
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