Boris Johnson calls on EU to break Brexit deadlock over fishing (msn.com)
© AP European Commission's Head of Task Force for Relations with the United Kingdom Michel Barnier walks from his hotel to the Conference Centre in London, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020. With less than two months to go before the U.K. exits the EU's economic orbit, trade deal talks resume in London. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
Boris Johnson called on Brussels to make a final offer on access to British fishing waters to break the Brexit deadlock, as the EU’s chief negotiator said the trade and security talks were entering the final “few hours”.
The two sides are at loggerheads over whether the EU will be able to hit British goods with tariffs should the UK close its seas to European vessels after a transition period of unspecified length, with less than two weeks to go before the end of the transition period.
Speaking to Sky News, the prime minister conceded that it would be “difficult at first” if the UK were forced to trade on World Trade Organization (WTO) terms from 1 January, but he insisted that it was time for the EU to make its move on the contentious issue.
“Our door is open. We’ll keep talking. But I have to say that things are looking difficult. And there’s a gap that needs to be bridged,” he said.
“We’ve done a lot to try and help, and we hope that our EU friends will see sense and come to the table with something themselves. That’s really where we are.
© Getty Images LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 16: Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrives back at 10 Downing Street after attending the final PMQs Of 2020, on December 16, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by Peter Summers/Getty Images)
“If that doesn’t happen then come January 1 we will be trading on WTO terms. An event that obviously has been four and a half years in the making, four and half years in the preparation. Yes it may be difficult at first, but this country will prosper mightily, as I’ve said many, many times, on any terms and under any arrangement.”
Johnson said “no sensible government” could sign up to a deal that didn’t allow the UK to retain control of its laws and its fishing rights.
Earlier in the day, Michel Barnier had said the main obstacle to a deal was over whether Brussels would be able to hit British goods with tariffs if the government closed its fishing waters to EU fishing fleets in the future.
With the European parliament having said it needs agreement by midnight on Sunday for it to be able to give its consent in a vote this year, the EU’s chief negotiator said the nine months of talks had reached the “moment of truth”.
Unacheza na samaki wewe!
Barnier said it would only be fair for Brussels to be able to put tariffs on UK goods, and fisheries products “in particular”, in a possible sign of EU flexibility on the issue.© AP European Commission's chief negotiator Michel Barnier wears a face mask as he leaves his hotel to head back to Brussels, in London, Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020. With less than one month to go before the U.K. exits the EU's economic orbit, talks have been paused due to "significant divergences." (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
In a speech to the European parliament, Barnier told MEPs: “It’s a question of whether the UK will leave in a few days – 10 days or so – if they’re going to leave the single market and the customs union with an agreement or without an agreement. It’s the moment of truth.
“We have very little time remaining, just a few hours to work through these negotiations in a useful fashion if you want this agreement to enter into force on 1 January.”
Barnier warned Downing Street that the time had come “when decisions need to be taken”.
“When it comes to access to markets without tariffs and quotas and the UK would like to regain its sovereignty over fisheries, to be able to control access to its waters and, as I’ve said on many occasions, I’ll reiterate that here: we can accept that and we respect that,” he said.
“But if following a critical period of adjustment that is deemed necessary, if the UK then wants to cut access to these waters for European fishermen, at any given time, then the European Union also has to maintain its sovereign right to react or to compensate by adjusting the conditions for products, and especially fisheries products to the single market.
“And that is where we come up against one of the main hurdles of the negotiations at the moment, fisheries being part and parcel of the economic partnership.”
But Barnier, a former French fisheries minister, said there was a fundamental issue of fairness that the EU would not back down on.
He said: “On a personal note, I don’t think it would be fair, not acceptable, if European fishermen were not allowed, following transitional rights, to have access to those waters when the rest of the agreement, especially applying to companies from the UK, would remain stable in their rights, so that wouldn’t be fair, that wouldn’t be honest.”
About 75% of UK fish exports, including the most valuable species such as herring, cod, shellfish, mackerel and salmon, goes to the EU market.
The government has said that after a transitional period it wants exclusive access to the zone six to 12 nautical miles from the British coastline and the repatriation of 60% of the EU’s current catch by value in UK seas. French and Belgian fleets have fished off the UK coast for centuries, while Barnier has said he cannot fully satisfy the British demands on quotas.
Barnier left the parliament early to consult with officials from the EU capitals and fisheries ministers before continuing negotiations with David Frost, the UK’s chief negotiator. Following a telephone call between Boris Johnson and the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, on Thursday night, Downing Street said the negotiations were in a “very serious” state, and that a no-deal outcome remained “very likely”.
Latest Brexit offer 'selling EU fishing communities down the river', Barnier told
Daniel Boffey in Brussels 22 mins ago
Latest Brexit offer 'selling EU fishing communities down the river', Barnier told
Latest Brexit offer 'selling EU fishing communities down the river', Barnier told (msn.com)
Michel Barnier has been told by the European fishing industry that his latest offer to the UK amounts to selling coastal communities “down the river” as
negotiators continue to haggle in Brussels over a post-Brexit trade and security deal.
© Getty Images Fish on sale in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France. The annual turnover from fish for UK vessels in British waters is about €850m compared with €650m by EU member states.
The EU and UK negotiating teams remain at loggerheads on the future rights of EU fishing fleets in British seas, with Downing Street warning there will not be a deal without a significant shift from Barnier in the coming hours.
The annual turnover from fish for UK vessels in British waters is about €850m (£770m) compared with €650m by EU member states. The prime minister has rejected the latest EU offer of handing over 25% of its catch by value – €162.5m a year – to UK vessels.
The UK insists that the EU needs to get closer to its demand for 60% of the current catch being repatriated, worth about €390m a year.
Downing Street also wants to restrict a phase-in period for the new arrangements to three years rather than the six or seven most recently proposed by Brussels.
But in a warning shot across Barnier’s bows, Gerard van Balsfoort, the chairman of the European Fisheries Alliance, representing the industry in coastal states such as France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain, said the terms already offered would involve “unprecedented” and unacceptable cuts.
He said: “The shape of a deal, as currently stands, would give a huge blow to the European seafood sector which is made up more than 18,000 fishermen and 3,500 vessels with an annual turnover of €20.7bn.
“Our industry is literally and metaphorically on the brink and in spite of repeated promises made, we are in the throes of being sold down the river with the offer made to the United Kingdom by the European commission. The more so when the fisheries negotiations with the UK are intended to start all over again after only six or seven years.”
Should the nine months of talks fail to produce an agreement on a trade and security deal, the UK’s waters would be entirely shut to EU vessels, unless some contingency arrangements could be negotiated.
But Van Balsfoort said his members would prefer a no-deal outcome than the terms so far proposed by Barnier. There are 11 days to go before the UK leaves the transition period, with or without a deal.
Van Balsfoort said: “The one thing we wanted to avoid was a ‘no-deal’ situation in the interests of all our fishermen but the deal which is now being proposed is every bit as bad. We are looking at vicious and unprecedented cuts on a wide range of stocks including our pelagic, shellfish and whitefish sectors.
“This is galling and if the European commission doesn’t stand up for its fishermen and honour its written agreement made during the arduous Brexit negotiations, it could spell the death knell for large parts of an industry which has contributed so much to coastal communities across nine EU states. Our fishermen must be protected as they risk life and limb to provide fresh food in the most unforgiving environment on earth.”
The European parliament has set midnight on Sunday, central European time, as the deadline for agreement. MEPs have said they will not hold a vote of consent this year if a deal is not in place.
A deal could still be “provisionally applied” by the 27 EU member states, with parliament holding a vote in January, although the commission is loth to take that route.
The provisional application process could also take up to a week, due to the need for translation and scrutiny of the text in the EU capitals, leaving just a few days more of talking time before a no-deal outcome, for at least a short period in the event of a very late agreement, becomes unavoidable.
A UK government source said: “We need to get any deal right and based on terms which respect what the British people voted for. Unfortunately, the EU are still struggling to get the flexibility needed from member states and are continuing to make demands that are incompatible with our independence.
“We cannot accept a deal that doesn’t leave us in control of our own laws or waters. We’re continuing to try every possible path to an agreement, but without a substantial shift from the commission we will be leaving on WTO terms on December 31.”
Latest Brexit offer 'selling EU fishing communities down the river', Barnier told (msn.com)
