The countries of the European Union are preparing a joint declaration with a call to Great Britain to review the policy of admission of fishing vessels into the territorial waters of the United Kingdom. About the so-called UK blackmail method by EU reports The Guardian.
According to the publication, Belgium, Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Cyprus, Portugal, Denmark, Italy, Lithuania, Sweden, Malta and Latvia, on the initiative of France, will release a statement in which “continuous access of European fishing vessels” in British territorial Waters will be called a key requirement to continue fisheries negotiations. The European Union warns that failure to comply with this requirement can complicate the development of joint cooperation standards in the industry and cause negative consequences for the British Fisheries in the European market.
The United Kingdom has established as a basic criterion to issue a license to foreign fishing vessels, the presence of evidence that they previously worked in coastal waters, including geolocation data. However, the statement states that this requirement is not provided for by the Agreement on Trade and Cooperation, and in accordance with the EU Rules, fishermen are not required to have and provide such data.
Declaration will become an act of solidarity of European fishing states with France, which is primarily facing this problem. So, at the end of September, only 12 47 small fishing vessels were able to fall into the territorial waters of the United Kingdom, and the British authorities denied the French trawlers in accessing the waters of Jersey. Both incidents almost led to the exacerbation of the conflict, but the support of the European Union will allow France not to introduce countermeasures and adhere to diplomatic rhetoric.