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BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Britain offered tentative concessions on fishing in trade talks with the European Union last week, two diplomatic sources told Reuters, just as London was publicly threatening to violate the terms of its divorce deal with the bloc.
The sources, who did not attend last week’s talks between the parties’ top negotiators but were briefed on them by the EU negotiating team, described the offer as a possible offer from London to overcome a key obstacle to a new trade agreement from 2021.
They said they also suggested that London could still be open to closing a deal despite a crisis in Brexit talks over Britain’s internal market bill which, if passed by parliament as proposed, would violate obligations. Great Britain’s international laws, as well as the EU divorce treaty.
Britain formally left the EU in January, but the two sides are seeking a new trade deal before a status quo transition deal ends in December.
Talks have virtually stalled over disagreements over fishing rights, state aid rules and other guarantees of fair competition in the market, and ways to resolve future disputes.
But the two EU sources said London had put forward two ideas on fisheries that deviated from Britain’s position so far that it should take control of its territorial waters in the English Channel starting next year.
“The UK definitely seems to be responding to this, it seems to be moving cautiously towards some openness on fisheries in technical talks,” said one of the sources.
The second source reported a “tentative, modest” move in fisheries after Britain this summer pushed a stiffer line, which the EU has rejected.
When asked to comment, a British government spokesman did not address the main point directly, but said: “Our position on fish is reasonable and straightforward.”
“We want a simple and separate framework fisheries agreement that reflects our rights under international law and that provides for annual negotiations on access and exchange of opportunities based on the scientific principle of zonal linkage.”
“This is a fairer, more modern and scientific approach that is already the basis of the EU’s existing fisheries agreement with Norway and respects each party as an independent coastal state,” the spokesperson said.
SYMBOL OF SOVEREIGNTY
Britain has said it will become an “independent coastal nation” after the transition period is over, allowing it to control its own waters, and who fishes in them, and increase the British catch.
Brexit supporters see fishing as an important symbol of sovereignty, saying that fishing grounds in British waters should be primarily for British fishing crews. The EU says it wants a “fair deal” that gives access to ships from bloc member states such as France and the Netherlands.
The lack of an agreement on trade is expected to lead to the construction of trade barriers between Britain and the EU, the world’s largest trading bloc.
Officials on both sides have said there has been some progress on the technical aspects of the fisheries talks, including sharing quotas and a list of stocks, but London says the EU has not agreed to Britain becoming a coastal state. Independent.
Under a proposal outlined by EU sources, the parties could agree on a “phase-out mechanism” for fishing quotas that would increase Britain’s share over time, rather than overnight from January 1, 2021.
Under the second idea, EU vessels around the Channel Islands, including Jersey and Guernsey, could be exempted from restrictions that would be stricter than those now applied to fishing in British waters up to 12 nautical miles of the coast.
Britain wants to be responsible for the management of its territorial waters up to 12 nautical miles from the coast, up to 200 nautical miles in a so-called exclusive economic zone or up to a median line between the British coast and the coasts of other states.
Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska, Additional Reporting by Elizabeth Piper in London, Edited by John Chalmers and Timothy Heritage
