Brexit deal ‘couldn't have gone better' say French fishermen

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20-05-2025

French fishermen said they 'couldn't have hoped for better' after Sir Keir Starmer surrendered a 12-year deal on fish to the EU.
The Prime Minister gave up access to British waters as part of his reset deal with Brussels, which was unveiled alongside EU chiefs in London on Monday.
He made the major concession in a 'fish for food' deal to secure a trade-boosting veterinary agreement with the EU, after being ambushed in late-night talks.
'We couldn't have hoped for better,' said Olivier Lepretre, the president of the Hauts-de-France regional fisheries committee.
'We are very satisfied, and relieved,' he told the France3 television channel: 'This changes a lot of things. If we no longer had access to British waters, we would have suffered a significant loss of revenue.'
He added: 'We had a completely blocked horizon and this agreement gives us visibility.'
Credit: Reuters
The original post-Brexit fishing deal offered the EU five years of access to UK waters. It expires next year.
But France, and others, made agreeing a replacement a condition for the Swiss-style veterinary deal and UK-EU defence pact in the reset agreement.
As late as Sunday, the UK was insisting any fish deal would have to last four years but that trebled in last-minute negotiations to land the agreement under pressure from Emmanuel Macron.
'This is excellent news for our fishermen,' said Agnes Pannier-Runacher, the French minister for ecological transition, the sea and fisheries.
Other European fishermen also reacted with joy and praised Paris and Brussels for their tough negotiations.
Spain has 40 vessels fishing in British waters, which are also fished by Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.
Ivan Lopez van der Veen, the vice-chairman of Spain's Cepesca fishing confederation, said: 'This was the best deal we could get.
'We had no expectation of increasing our quotas. For the sector, I think it is the best possible outcome. It allows for stability and to reinvigorate the fleet.'
He said: 'We would have liked it to be a permanent agreement but 12 years is a good basis for joint management of those waters, as we have always done.'
Mr López van der Veen added: 'I cheer for all members that pushed for a deal. We have 27 states and they are all playing for the EU.'
Svend-Erik Andersen, the chairman of the Danish fisheries association, said: 'We are pleased that the highest level in the EU recognises that fishing is an important industry for all of Europe.'
Sir Keir claimed that the deal was good for British fishermen because it offered them long-term stability and did not increase European catch quotas.
Steve Reed, the Environment Secretary, also insisted that fishermen had lost 'absolutely nothing' in the EU deal.
Alistair Carmichael, a Liberal Democrat MP and chairman of the rural affairs committee, told Mr Reed that the fisheries often 'get traded off against something else'.
In response, Mr Reed said: 'I do want to really emphasise this point, because you said fishing was traded out in this deal. It wasn't.
'They've lost absolutely nothing, and they've gained things, particularly access that we did not have before.'
But Elspeth Macdonald, the chief executive of the Scottish fishermen's federation, said: 'This deal is a horror show for Scottish fishermen, far worse than Boris Johnson's botched Brexit agreement.'
The veterinary deal will remove post-Brexit border checks and red tape in exchange for the UK agreeing to align with EU laws on plant and animal health rules.
That will benefit British exports, including fish. More than 70 per cent of the fish caught by British boats is sold to the EU.
EU bans on exports of live British shellfish imposed after Brexit will also be lifted.
Dimitri Rogoff, the president of the regional committee for maritime fisheries and marine farming of Normandy, said: 'In Normandy, we're very sensitive to the issue of scallops, it's an extremely important fishery for us.
'We know that British products are fished on the French side, and that these products are sent to the French market at very low prices, which brings prices down a little. So in the end we're competing with our British friends on a product.'
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