France has stated through the nation’s Ministry of the Sea that negotiations will be held on Monday to obtain licenses for 14 additional vessels, 12 meters or more, that will be given access to British territorial waters. French fishing minister Annick Girardin has now taken to Twitter to celebrate the possible issuance of the new licences for the French trawlers. Ahead of the scheduled meeting today the French fishing minister tweeted: “New licenses for our fishermen!
“This is a real step forward for their access to British waters but the account is still not there.
“The French government and the EU Commission still continue negotiations to obtain all the promised licenses.”
In a further belligerent tweet, she added that “dialogue with the British authorities must continue under the terms set out in the end 2020 trade and cooperation agreement”.
She added: “We will not allow ourselves to be imposed new criteria!”
On Monday the EU Commission will discuss with their British counterparts access to UK waters for these larger vessels.
France’s Ministry of the Sea stated: “Negotiations with the British authorities should continue under the conditions provided by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, there can be no question of imposing new norms that impede the readability and coherence of our actions.”
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8.00 am update: The UK could be flooded with cheap steel after Brexit expiry date in blow to British industry
Safeguards ensuring steel is of a high standard will expire next month prompting fears among UK producers of a flood of metal from abroad.
Now the Daily Mirror has reported that a UK steel trade body has said: “Extending the UK safeguards is the only sensible course of action whilst the US and EU continue with their own measures and global overcapacity remains as big a problem as ever.
“To do otherwise would unilaterally expose the UK market to significant increases in imports at a time when the steel sector, like the rest of the economy, is in the process of recovery.”
