Brussels, 22 December 2021 (AFP) – The European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom have reached an agreement on allocating fisheries reserves, overcoming differences pending the British withdrawal from the European Union.
“We have an agreement with Great Britain on fishing opportunities until 2022,” EU Commissioner for Fisheries Virginia Cincinnatius announced on Twitter on Wednesday (22).
He added that the agreement, signed the previous day (21), “covers all fisheries (regions) managed together in Anglo-European waters and is based on the best available scientific information”.
This is the first fishing agreement the UK has signed with the EU since Brexit. Due to this deviation, most of the block rules were not applied last January.
According to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which defines relations with Brexit, Brussels and London must negotiate an annual fishing quota, which guarantees the stability of the process.
The agreement was reached on the same day that London signed a separate fishing agreement with Norway. The country is not a member of the European Union and is in talks with Brussels on conditions for access to shared fisheries resources.
The Council of Europe, an organization representing the 27 member states of the European Union, said the agreement was currently being considered by legal experts and was ready to be translated into all federal languages. It will come into effect from January 1, 2022.
Meanwhile, civil society organizations criticized the agreement, denouncing it as “unsustainable”.
“As before Brexit, they continue to prioritize short-term business interests over long-term sustainability for fish and fishermen,” the charity ClientEarth said in a statement.
The dispute between the UK and France over fishing licenses for boats in British waters remains unresolved.
Reluctantly, London granted many of the necessary licenses to France and the European Commission, but French fishermen complained that dozens were pending. As a result, Paris asked Brussels to file a lawsuit against the United Kingdom.
rmb / mas / zm / tt
