The European Union and the United Kingdom have reached an agreement

French and Dutch fishing boats in the North Sea, near the French coast, December 7, 2020.  Fishing has been a subject of conflict with the United Kingdom since the enactment of Brexit.

This was one of the main points of tension despite the Brexit deal. The European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom reached an in-principle agreement on the issue of fisheries on Wednesday, 2 June, the European Commission announced. They managed to agree on catches by their fishing vessels in a jointly managed fish stock for 2021.

The deal was finalized in a phone call between EU Fisheries Commissioner Virginis Sinquevicius and the UK’s Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs George Eustice. “This agreement with TAC ensures predictability and continuity for our fleet [totaux admissibles de capture] Last for the rest of the yearannounced the commissioner in a press release. “This proves that two partners on both sides of the channel can find agreement and move forward if they work together”, he congratulated himself.

read the story: Brexit, a long and difficult separation

The agreement guarantees the fishing rights of the EU and UK fleets until the end of 2021. This sets the TAC for some fish stocks along with 75 shared fish stocks for 2021. Deep sea fishing for 2021 and 2022, the commission said. It also clarifies the access limits for species outside the quota.

source of stress

The agreement is expected to be signed in the coming days. It will also allow both the parties to do quota trading.

The hardest part of negotiating a post-Brexit trade deal between the EU and UK was fishing. The catch of EU fishermen in UK waters weighs around 650 million euros each year.

read also Tension in Jersey waters: the reason for anger of French fishermen

The compromise found is a source of tension. At the end of a transition period lasting until June 2026, the European fleet had to release 25% of its catches in British waters. This approach will then be renegotiated annually.

European fishermen believe it will block visibility and block investment. The need to be licensed fuels dissatisfaction. French vessels would therefore have to prove that they were already fishing in the area in the 2012–2016 reference period, which can be complicated for small boats not necessarily equipped with recording and monitoring systems. geographic location.

AFP. world with

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *