As France’s European Minister Clément Beaune announced on Monday evening via Twitter, punitive measures threatened by France should not initially come into force on Tuesday as planned. Instead, they want to continue the dialogue with London. The British government has received initial signals that negotiations could be accelerated, said Beaune. On Thursday, Brexit Minister David Frost is expected in Paris for an in-depth exchange. French President Emmanuel Macron had previously made a statement similar to Beaune.
Frost was satisfied with the announcement from Paris that the threatened punitive measures would be put on hold for the time being. “Great Britain has made its position on these measures clear in the past few days,” said a statement from the government in London. Intensive discussions were prepared, including the issue of licenses, if new evidence could be presented. Frost is looking forward to an exchange with Beaune in Paris.
Specifically, the dispute over refused licenses for French fishermen in the waters off the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey. The islands are under the British Crown, but they are much closer to France than to Great Britain.
Paris accuses London of not adhering to the Brexit agreements and of refusing licenses to numerous French fishermen, contrary to the agreement. London denies the allegations. It is about a few dozen boats that have not received a license due to a lack of documents.
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If London does not give in, Paris had threatened to close some ports to British fishermen from this Tuesday on and to tighten controls on British boats and trucks. London criticized the threatened sanctions as “disproportionate and inappropriate”. The British government has announced countermeasures in the event of an emergency. Foreign Minister Lizz Truss, for example, brought the dispute settlement mechanism agreed in the Brexit agreement into play in order to achieve “compensatory measures”. Frost even spoke of “retaliation”.
The dispute threatened to overshadow the UN climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland. In addition, a dispute is smoldering between Great Britain and the EU over the Brexit special regulations for the British province of Northern Ireland.
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