French Secretary of State for European Affairs Clement Beaune announced on Wednesday that the negotiations between the European Commission (EC) and the United Kingdom on fishing licenses would go into full force this week.
On Tuesday, Beaune invited the UK's chief Brexit negotiator, David Frost, to come to Paris on November 4 for talks on the alleged anti-French bias when issuing fishing licenses in British waters. Frost accepted the offer and, according to French cabinet spokesperson Gabriel Attal, the two will meet on Thursday before a Friday meeting with the EC.
"New talks with European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic on Brexit and fishing licenses. Unity, solidarity and firmness in protecting our agreements, our interests and our fishermen. The dialogue between the EU and the UK is intensifying this week," Beaune wrote on Twitter.
In late September, the British Ministry of the Environment reported that 1,700 vessels from the EU received licenses to fish in British waters, of which 117 were issued to vessels from the EU for fishing in a zone of 6-12 nautical miles. The ministry issued only 12 licenses to French fishermen, having considered 47 applications.
France has accused the UK of non-compliance with the Brexit agreement provisions on fishing licenses and threatened to impose sanctions starting November 2. However, Paris decided to postpone the sanctions until negotiations with London are complete. (ANI/Sputnik)
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor