Norway has threatened the EU and the UK to close their waters to fishing vessels

© Associated Press

Norway, which is not a member of the EU, today threatened to close its waters to British and EU fishing vessels if a tripartite agreement is not reached by January 1, AFP reported.

Since 1980, fisheries have been the subject of a bilateral EU-Norway cooperation agreement, which will now have to be renegotiated to become tripartite due to Brexit.

Negotiations with the EU and Britain on the 2021 fisheries deal have been long delayed due to stalled Brexit talks between the two countries, Norwegian Fisheries Minister Odd Emil Ingebrigsten told parliament.

This means that there are no guarantees that the negotiations will be concluded before the end of the year. And if we do not have an agreement by January 1, we will not open the Norwegian economic zone for British and EU fishing vessels, he added.

The agreement between Norway and the EU, concluded 40 years ago, grants mutual access to fishing areas, recalls AFP. / BTA