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The French president has insisted throughout trade negotiations that the access of his country’s fishermen to British waters must not be compromised as part of any agreement between London and Brussels. The EU front man has continued to warn that French fishermen will not be “slaughtered” as part of the now bitter and lengthy Brexit process. On Friday, Boris Johnson lobbied the EU by calling for the halt to talks with Brussels on a trade deal and warning Britain to prepare for a final no-deal Brexit.
Fishing has been a major hurdle in the negotiations, with both parties keeping a significant distance on their demands for their respective industries after Brexit.
Britain wants fishing quotas to be renegotiated annually, but the EU has argued that this would make it impossible for the industry to make investment decisions.
Macron warned Thursday that “our fishermen will not be victims of Brexit” and added: “We did not make that decision. The British people do.” He also warned that France is ready for a no-deal outcome.
But this has sparked a furious reaction from Brexiteer Daniel Kawczynski, who warned that if the French president continues to “exaggerate his cards” in fishing, “he will end up with an egg on his face.”
Brexit news: Emmanuel Macron has been warned about the big bet he is taking with fishing (Image: GETTY)
Brexit news: Emmanuel Macron has taken a firm approach to fisheries negotiations (Image: GETTY)
The Conservative Shrewsbury and Atcham MP also warned that if that were to happen, Macron “will have to have a difficult conversation with his fishermen about why there is no more access to British waters.”
Kawczynski told Express.co.uk: “Macron has to please his fishermen’s unions, but we are not afraid of a no-deal.
“It would be much more difficult for them because in a no-deal scenario, they would lose everything.
“For the moment, French fishing vessels will have licenses that are traded annually and the Government is now talking about a three-year transition period to implement some of these changes, which I think is too generous.
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“If Macron overdoes his cards, he will end up with an egg on his face and have to have a difficult conversation with his fishermen about why there is no more access to British waters.”
The Brexiteer called Macron’s comments “rude and disrespectful” and is puzzled that the French president has yet to understand that the UK is now an independent sovereign nation and French fishermen will not have the same access to British waters after the Brexit.
He has also urged the UK government not to make further concessions on fishing and to withdraw without any agreement if the French are unwilling to compromise.
Kawczynski told this website: “Macron is playing true to his style. What you are saying again is very rude and disrespectful.
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Brexit news: Emmanuel Macron has been warned against ‘exaggerating his letters’ (Image: GETTY)
Brexit news: Boris Johnson has pledged to protect UK fishermen in any EU trade deal (Image: PA)
“It has not yet faced the fact that we are now an independent sovereign nation and that French fishermen will not continue to fish in British waters, looting fish stocks.
“For example, off the coast of Cornwall, 80 percent of the catch goes to the EU and only a small fraction remains for British fishermen.
“I have been speaking with Conservative MPs today in the House of Commons and there is an absolute determination that the Government does not make any more concessions on fishing.
“If France is not ready to agree on this, then we have to go without an agreement and go back to the Australian model of the WTO.”
Speaking on the second and final day of the European Council summit in Brussels, Macron admitted that French fishermen know they will not have equal access to British fishing waters after Brexit in what appeared to be the first signs of a softened stance on the thorny problem.
Brexit news: EU countries most dependent on UK fishing waters (Image: EXPRESS)
He said: “Will the situation be the same as it is today? No, that’s for sure. Our fishermen know it, we know it too. We will have to help them.”
However, he added: “But can we accept a Brexit that sacrifices our fishermen? No.”
When asked why he would block a Brexit deal for sighing, the French president was enraged because the question showed that the reporter had been “brainwashed.”
Macron said: “The state of our talks is not that we are stumbling over the fisheries issue, which is the British tactical argument, but that we are stumbling over everything. Everything.”
He insisted that the top priority for EU leaders was to ensure fair competition rules, warning: “It happens that the 27 remaining EU leaders, who chose to remain in the EU, are not there simply to make the British prime minister happy. “.
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