London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Sep 08, 2025

UK and EU settle fishing row but French fishers vow to go ahead with blockade

UK and EU settle fishing row but French fishers vow to go ahead with blockade

Talk of trade war dropped after UK and Channel Islands governments agree to issue more licences
Paris, London and Brussels have dropped talk of a trade war and appeared to settle a dispute over post-Brexit fishing licences, but angry French fishers threatened to go ahead with a pre-Christmas blockade of British goods entering Calais.

The European Commission and the French government signalled satisfaction with the result of an intensive fortnight of negotiations as the UK and Channel Islands governments agreed to issue 83 more operating licences before an EU deadline.

The offer did not fully meet the demands of Emmanuel Macron’s government, however, and fishers in Brittany said they would go ahead with a planned blockade of Calais on 23 December.

“Far from satisfying the professionals of the sector, this news exasperates the fishermen of Hauts-de-France, who feel both betrayed by the British government … and neglected by the European Commission”, the committee for maritime fisheries in the region said in a statement. “Movements will be expected, movements which will target the import of British products”.

French vessels imposed a similar blockade at Calais, described at the time as a warning shot, in November. A vessel run by DFDS, a Danish shipping company, and a P&O ferry were forced to wait outside the port, the biggest entry point to the continent for British goods.

The EU commissioner for fishing, Virginijus Sinkevičius, had thanked the UK earlier on Sunday for respecting the deadline by which Paris had demanded additional licences for small boats seeking to fish in the coastal waters of the UK and the British Crown dependencies of Jersey and Guernsey.

“I think it was a very important step achieved last night and I’m thankful to the UK that they respected a deadline that we set by 10 December,” he said. “The two weeks were very intensive, we’ve managed to bring over 80 additional licences now.”

He said the European Commission and the French authorities would examine all applications to ensure they included the necessary evidence of having previously fished in the waters.

The French minister for the seas, Annick Girardin, said the government would seek to assist those fishers who had not been successful in their applications.

The government had previously made a range of threats over an alleged failure to respect the trade agreement by providing sufficient small boats with fishing licences for the waters around the UK, Jersey and Guernsey.

Downing Street had insisted that sufficient evidence proving that applicants had previously fished in the coastal waters had not been met, but Macron demanded a “gesture of goodwill” by midnight on 10 December. French ministers spoke of cutting energy supplies to Jersey and applying tariffs on UK trade.

The latest threat had been to start the dispute process in the EU-UK trade agreement, but other key member states with fishing interests showed a distinct lack of enthusiasm shown.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Elon Musk Poised to Become First Trillionaire Under Ambitious Tesla Pay Plan
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
Burning the Minister’s House Helped Protesters to Win Justice: Prabowo Fires Finance Minister in Wake of Indonesia Protests
Brazil Braces for Fallout from Bolsonaro Trial by corrupted judge
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
Nearly 40 Years Later: Nike Changes the Legendary Slogan Just Do It
Generations Born After 1939 Unlikely to Reach Age One Hundred, New Study Finds
End to a four-year manhunt in New Zealand: the father who abducted his children to the forests was killed, the three siblings were found
Germany Suspends Debt Rules, Funnels €500 Billion Toward Military and Proxy War Strategy
EU Prepares for War
BMW Eyes Growth in China with New All‑Electric Neue Klasse Lineup
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Brand-New $1 Million Yacht Sinks Just Fifteen Minutes After Maiden Launch in Turkey
Here’s What the FBI Seized in John Bolton Raid — and the Legal Risks He Faces
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
×