France says UK tried to isolate it, vows lawsuit as tensions simmer
France plans to call on the European Union (EU) to begin legal measures against Britain if London fails to issue more fishing licenses by a deadline set by the European Commission, a French minister has declared.
Junior European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune further accused British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday of trying unsuccessfully to isolate France in the dispute over post-Brexit fishing licenses for French fishermen.
"Boris Johnson told himself he could isolate the French. We have re-mobilized (the Europeans) so that the deal is respected," Beaune emphasized during an interview with France Info radio.
France is still waiting for Britain to approve nearly 100 licenses for its fishermen to operate in British territorial waters, the minister added.
"If Britain today gives a few dozen extra licenses as a token of goodwill... we will take that into account," he said, further noting that if the deadlock persists, France will ask the Commission over the weekend to announce the start of the legal action.
The development came two weeks after French fishermen disrupted cross-Channel traffic in protest at the post-Brexit fishing rights granted by Britain, temporarily preventing two ferries carrying trucks and passengers from getting access to the northern port of Calais.
London and the EU have agreed to set up a licensing system to grant fishing vessels access to each other's waters when Britain left the bloc. France, however, insists that it has not been given the full number it is due, while London counters that only those lacking the correct documentation have not been granted.
This is while Johnson's spokesman said in a press briefing on Thursday that Britain never set a deadline for resolving the issue, a remark that Beaune dismissed as "not a sign of trust."
Though fishing represents a small portion of both the French and British economies, it is a politically sensitive issue.
The development came in the wake of a war of words between the two major European neighbors over a migration crisis in the English Channel, where 27 refugees drowned while trying to cross the Channel in an inflatable dinghy to reach Britain.
Analysts say relations between Britain and France are at their lowest point during the past decades due to tensions over a couple of issues such as Brexit, migration, and a submarine contract with Australia.
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