Tension increases over the fishing licenses agreed in Brexit and that France accuses have not yet been granted. The fishermen threatened to continue the protest.
The French fishermen on Friday blocked three ports located off the British coast and the railway traffic under the English Channel, to demand a solution to the access of their boats to the waters of the United Kingdom, after the licenses agreed in the “ Brexit ”were denied by the British and Channel Island authorities.
“It is the first action with which we want to show our blocking capacity. Our patience has a limit ”, assured the president of the National Fisheries Committee (CNP), Gérard Romiti, who warned that they will continue to increase the pressure if an agreement is not reached. “We will not stop until the ‘Brexit’ agreements are fulfilled and we have enough licenses,” added the territorial delegate of the CNP in Calais, Benoit Firmin.
After several rather symbolic actions in ports, the Potentially more forceful action began in the early afternoon at the entrance to the Eurotunnel, where 25 per cent of merchandise passes between the UK and the continent. Aboard dozens of vans and vehicles, the fishermen blocked access on the French side, preventing the entry of trucks of merchandise bound for the United Kingdom.
They will go “to the end”
The objective is to block exports so that “the British population becomes aware of what is happening.” “They have access to the European market and we still do not have access to their waters,” a fisheries leader previously explained. At the same time, in Ouistreham (north), near the beaches of the Allied landing of Normandy during World War II, several trawlers prevented a ferry from leaving the port.
Romiti acknowledged that these are “symbolic actions”, which barely lasted a few hours, but warned that they may intensify them and recalled that the United Kingdom depends to a great extent on the trade that transits the English Channel. The leader assured that the United Kingdom has taken advantage of the excuse of the licenses to “tighten the rope” of the negotiations, but warns that they will go “to the end.”
The dispute focuses on the documents required by London to grant licenses. Under the agreement, the licenses will be delivered to ships that were already operating in British waters before Brexit, which has not happened. After having threatened the United Kingdom with sanctions and a blockade on the supply of energy and goods, Paris has left the negotiation in the hands of the European Commission.
These actions come in a The atmosphere is already tense between the two countries due to the migrants arriving on the British shores. London even urged France to ensure that trade is not affected by “illegal acts” on this day of protest. (I)
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