No breakthrough in Protocol and fishing row talks

Talks between the Brexit minister Lord Frost and EU Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič in Brussels tpday ave failed to resolve tensions.

The pair will meet again in London next week.

A statement from Downing Street after the meeting said: “Lord Frost set out the UK’s assessment of the negotiations on the protocol. He underlined that progress had been limited and that the EU’s proposals did not currently deal effectively with the fundamental difficulties in the way the protocol was operating. He added that, in the UK view, these gaps could still be bridged through further intensive discussions. He underlined that the UK’s preference was still to find a consensual solution that protected the Belfast (Good Friday) agreement and the everyday lives of people in Northern Ireland.

“There was also a short discussion of fisheries policy. Lord Frost reiterated that the UK had licensed 98% of EU vessels seeking to fish in UK waters, representing almost 1,700 vessels, in line with its obligations under the trade and cooperation agreement (TCA). He repeated that vessels must provide the necessary evidence of historic fishing activity required by the TCA in order to receive a licence.”

Yesterday Lord Frost and France’s European Affairs minister Clement Beaune reportedly “set out their positions and concerns” during a meeting in Paris.

They “discussed the range of difficulties arising from the application of the agreements between the UK and the EU”, according to a spokesperson for the British government,

This latest flashpoint in the two countries’ row over post Brexit fishing licenses was triggered in the early hours of last Thursday morning, when France detained a British trawler and verbally warned another off the coast of Le Havre.

France has complained that its fishermen have only been granted with half the licences to fish in UK waters that they are entitled to under the Brexit agreement.

In September the UK and the Jersey refused dozens of French fishing licences.

The British government said it has granted licenses to fishing vessels with an evidenced history of operating in its waters prior to the UK’s exit from the EU.