LONDON (BLOOMBERG, REUTERS) - Britain limited the access of small EU boats to fish in its territorial waters, a move that risks stirring up a bitter post-Brexit dispute.
Out of 47 applications to fish in British waters made by small vessels, 12 licences have been granted, Britain's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said in a statement. The other licences weren't granted because the boats weren't able to show sufficient evidence of having fished in the waters historically, the department said.
The British decision risks inflaming one of the most contentious and emotive elements of the post-Brexit relationship. Earlier this year, Britain and France deployed warships to the isle of Jersey amid protests about curtailing the ability of French boats to fish in British seas.
The latest licences granted are for fishing in the zone 6 miles to 12 miles from the coast of Britain. Since Brexit, about 1,700 EU vessels have been given licences to fish in the zone 12 miles to 200 miles from the British coast, DEFRA said.
In response, France's maritime minister Annick Girardin said on Wednesday that the country will decide within 15 days on possible retaliation.
Girardin also told reporters sanctions could involve energy supplies as well as British students in France.
France accused on Wednesday Britain of playing politics with post-Brexit fishing rights after London and the Channel Island of Jersey refused dozens of French fishing boats licences to operate in their territorial waters.
Fishing was one of the most hotly contested issues in the negotiations over Britain's divorce from the EU, as countries such as Ireland, France and Spain pushed to protect jobs in their coastal communities while Britain sought to regain control of its territorial waters.
The EU has previously threatened retaliation in other areas of the post-Brexit relationship, such as financial services, if it doesn't get its way on fish.
"'Our approach has been reasonable and fully in line with our commitments in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement," DEFRA said in a statement. "We continue to work with the Commission and the French authorities and will consider any further evidence provided to support the remaining license applications."
Meanwhile, French member of parliament Jean-Pierre Pont on Wednesday warned that French fishermen could block the Channel Tunnel linking France and the United Kingdom in protest over the allocation of the post-Brexit fishing licences.
"Be warned," said Pont, who is a member of parliament for President Emmanuel Macron's ruling La Republique en Marche party, representing the coastal town of Boulogne-sur-Mer.
"Since the British are refusing to honour what they signed, as with other Anglo-Saxons in another area, the French fishermen of Boulogne-sur-Mer may be obliged, after 9 months of useless patience, to envisage ways to retaliate against the UK - for example by blocking ports or the entry of lorries towards the UK through the tunnel," added Pont.
