UK-France fish spat deepens despite Macron and Johnson talk

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ROME – French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stuck to rival positions Sunday successful their countries' post-Brexit quality implicit sportfishing successful the English Channel, with France maintaining its menace to enforce sanctions starting Tuesday that could see a blockade of British boats.

The 2 leaders held a 30-minute gathering connected Sunday greeting portion attending the Group of 20 nations acme successful Rome, and each addressed the escalating tensions implicit the granting of sportfishing licenses arsenic they held abstracted quality conferences astatine the extremity of the meeting.

“I don’t privation immoderate escalation, but we indispensable instrumentality things seriously," Macron said "My privation is not to spell toward retaliation measures...It’s alternatively to find an agreement."

France has threatened to barroom British boats from immoderate of its ports and tighten checks connected boats and trucks carrying U.K. goods if much French vessels aren't licensed to food successful U.K. waters by Tuesday. Paris has besides suggested it mightiness restrict vigor supplies to the Channel Islands — British Crown dependencies that prevarication disconnected the seashore of France and are heavy babelike connected French electricity.

Macron said helium invited Johnson to enactment connected a “methodology” for granting much sportfishing licenses to French ships.

“The shot is present successful their court. If the British don’t bash immoderate important move, (retaliation) measures starting from Nov. 2 volition request to beryllium implemented,” the French president said. "I would deplore it. But what we cannot bash is not respond and not support our fishermen.”

Fishing is simply a tiny manufacture economically, but 1 that looms ample symbolically for maritime nations similar Britain and France. Britain’s exit from the economical rules of the 27-nation European Union astatine the commencement of the twelvemonth means the U.K. present controls who fishes successful its waters.

Paris claims immoderate vessels person been denied permits to food successful waters wherever they person agelong sailed. Britain says it has granted 98% of applications from EU vessels, and present the quality comes down to conscionable a fewer twelve French boats with insufficient paperwork.

Johnson, speaking astatine the aforesaid clip arsenic Macron connected Sunday, said the U.K.’s presumption “is unchanged."

“I indispensable accidental I was puzzled to work a missive from the French premier curate explicitly asking for Britain to beryllium punished for leaving the EU," the premier curate said. “I conscionable person to accidental to everybody that I don’t judge that is compatible either with the tone oregon the letter” of the U.K.'s withdrawal woody and post-Brexit commercialized statement with the EU.

Both sides impeach the different of breaching the Brexit withdrawal agreement. Britain says it is “actively considering” launching quality colony proceedings, a ceremonial ineligible process successful the deal, if France does not driblet its threats.

A apical French apical authoritative said Johnson and Macron agreed during their gathering Sunday that determination was a request to speech to each different “in a concern of important tensions.” He said actions request to beryllium taken “as soon arsenic possible” to get to a de-escalation.

The French official, speaking anonymously successful accordance with the presidency’s customary practices, said France and Britain would person talks “in the coming hours and days” connected applicable details, with the purpose to “ease tensions and stabilize the situation.”

Britain, however, denied the leaders had agreed to instrumentality steps to deescalate the spat, saying it was wholly up to France to calm the waters.

The U.K. authorities said successful a connection that during the meeting, Johnson “reiterated his heavy concern” implicit France’s rhetoric and “expressed his anticipation that the French authorities would de-escalate.”

Johnson’s spokesman, Max Blain, said “it volition beryllium for the French to determine whether they privation to measurement distant from the threats they person made successful caller days."

“Both successful our rhetoric and our actions we person not successful immoderate mode sought to escalate this," Blain said. ".The de-escalation would person to travel from the French side.”

But France's Minister for European Affairs Clement Beaune connected Sunday accused Britain of “targeting" France successful a “political choice" and said Britain had breached the presumption of the Brexit deal.

“For the EU arsenic a whole, astir 90% of the expected licenses person been granted, but each the missing ones are French,” helium tweeted.

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