France threatened to cut off Jersey’s power supply as a row with the UK over post-Brexit fishing rights intensified.
French Maritime Minister Annick Girardin said she was revolted when she found out that Britain had granted 41 fishing licences that included conditions and specific criteria that were “decided unilaterally and without explanation”.
“It’s unacceptable – we’re ready to resort to retaliatory measures,” she told the National Assembly.
“Concerning Jersey, I’ll remind you of the transport of electricity via submarine cables. I would regret it if we have to do it, but we’ll do it if we have to.”
Under the EU-UK trade deal, French fishermen need to apply for a licence to work in the British island of Jersey’s waters and must provide evidence that they have fished in the area in the past three years.
The majority of licences applied for were granted, but some were rejected because vessels failed to supply evidence.
France said those licensed were faced with “unexpected conditions”, including limitations on where they could fish and for how long.
Jersey External Relations Minister Ian Gorst defended the island’s decision to enforce the conditions of the EU-UK trade deal.
"The trade deal is clear but I think there has been some confusion over how it is being implemented," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
“We absolutely respect the historic rights of French fishermen in Jersey waters as they’ve been doing for centuries.”
He dismissed France’s threat to cut off the power supply to the territory.
“We can all see this is not the first threat that France has made to Jersey or the UK,” he said.
“It would seem disproportionate to cut off electricity for the sake of providing extra detail so we can refine the licences. When the fishermen provide the evidence, we will provide the licences.”
UK Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said it was important both sides worked together “to iron out any issues and any problem so this historic deal works for people”.
“My very strong feeling on this is we need to work constructively and we are working constructively on both sides,” he told Sky News.
“This is an issue for the European Commission to work out with our team. All the indications are that the commission is taking these operational challenges seriously.”
Ms Girardin said she flagged the perceived non-compliance with the Brexit deal to the European Commission and posted a video clip of comments to legislators on her Twitter account.
Last week, France’s Junior Minister for European Affairs Clement Beaune threatened to block regulations that would allow UK financial firms to conduct business in the EU if Britain failed to respect commitments on fishing.
Mr Beaune was due to meet David Frost, Cabinet Office minister and former UK negotiator, for talks on Tuesday.
Access to fishing areas six to 12 nautical miles (11 to 22 kilometres) off the British coast is difficult and the UK has not delivered all the licences it agreed to, France's National Fishing Committee head Jean-Luc Hall said.
French fishermen would not venture into UK waters without a licence because of the risk of fines, he said.
British and EU negotiators are locked in discussions over the 2021 catch quota for shared fishing stocks.
Mr Hall said some of the British “think it’s possible that delays in giving out licences is a lever in the negotiations on quotas”.
