Fishing line: UK warns France that it could take revenge for threats

The UK could respond as well if France goes ahead with the threats amid a discussion about post-Brexit fishing rights, the environment secretary said, warning that “two can play that game”.

France said it could prevent British boats from disembarking if the licensing dispute is not resolved by Tuesday.

George Eustice claimed that the language used by French officials was “inflammatory”.

He said he was raising the matter with the European Commission, while the French ambassador was summoned for talks.

A British fishing boat was hijacked by France and another was fined on Thursday during checks off Le Havre.

French authorities said the detained ship, Cornelis Gert Jan, did not have a license. This was denied by its owner, Macduff Shellfish of Scotland.

The captain of the scallop dredge will face a court hearing in August next year, French authorities said Friday.

Eustice told BBC Breakfast that the vessel had been licensed earlier in the year and that the government was “trying to get to the bottom” of why it was subsequently removed from the list given to the European Union.

France was angered by the UK and Jersey’s decision last month to deny fishing licenses to dozens of French boats and argued that this violated the Brexit deal.

The country has warned that next week it will prevent British boats from landing their catch in some ports and will step up checks on British boats and trucks if the fishing license dispute is not resolved by 2 November.

France also warned it could cut electricity supplies to Jersey, a British Crown dependency, as previously threatened in May.

Eustice said only a “small number of vessels” are not eligible for licenses “because they have never had access to Jersey waters before”.

He said the UK has an “always open door” and that the government will wait to see what decision is made by Tuesday, after which the UK “reserves the right to respond in a proportionate manner”.

When asked about French minister for Europe Clement Beaune’s claim that the only language Britain understands is “the language of force”, Eustice said: “This is completely inflammatory and is the wrong way to approach things. “.

He added: “For now, we will not respond in the way that France did, we will raise it with the commission and we will raise it through diplomatic channels with the French ambassador, but we will reserve the right to do more if France will continue to pursue these threats. “

Foreign Minister Liz Truss asked Europe Minister Wendy Morton to call the French ambassador for talks on Friday.

The UK claims that the rejected applications that sparked the dispute did not have enough evidence to prove the boats had a history of fishing in British or Jersey waters.

A meeting with officials from France, Jersey, UK and the European Commission on Wednesday resulted in 162 French boats having been licensed to fish in Jersey waters since Friday.

The government of Jersey said it was “extremely disappointed” by the latest threats of sanctions from France. Previously, French trawlers had protested outside St Helier’s harbor on the island.