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The UK has offered a three-year transition period for European fishing fleets to prepare for post-Brexit changes as part of a last-minute sweetener deal.
EU fishermen catches would be “phased out” between 2021 and 2024 to allow time for European coastal communities to adapt to changes.
The long transition period is contained in a new negotiating document presented before the current round of negotiations in Brussels between the teams led respectively by the UK’s chief negotiator, David Frost, and his EU counterpart, Michel Barnier.
The idea of a reduction period had been raised previously, but no details had been provided until recent days.
“We have a long way to go, but if the other troublesome problems can be solved, it doesn’t seem like fishing will stand in the way of a deal,” said a senior EU diplomat.
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said during a visit to Washington on Tuesday night that he believed there was a good chance of a trade deal. “The obstacles are not insurmountable,” he said. “We should be able to do this deal.”
The UK remains determined to replace the Common Fisheries Policy with a “zone tie” system that would provide a significant increase in catches for UK fishing fleets.
Currently, the economic zone of Great Britain is part of the common waters of the EU. The UK receives a fixed share based on the amount of population its fishermen caught during a reference period between 1973 and 1978.
Under the new system proposed by the UK, the two parties would agree on what percentage of shared stocks are allocated to each of their European economic zones each year. Catch quotas would be organized according to that percentage.
Chronology
From Brefusal to Brexit: A History of Britain in the EU
Brefusal
French President Charles de Gaulle vetoes Britain’s entry into the EEC, accusing Britain of “deep-seated hostility” towards the European project.
Brentry
With the signing of Sir Edward Heath’s accession treaty the previous year, the United Kingdom joins the EEC in an official ceremony complete with a torchlight rally, reverent officials and a procession of political leaders, including former Prime Ministers Harold Macmillan and Alec Douglas. -House.
Referendum
The UK decides to stay in the common market after 67% voted “yes”. Margaret Thatcher, who would later become leader of the Conservative Party, campaigned to stay.
‘Give us back our money’
Margaret Thatcher negotiated what became known as the UK’s refund with other EU members after the “iron lady” marched to the former French royal palace at Fontainebleau to demand “our own money back” claiming that for every £ 2 contributed we received only £ 1 “despite being one of the” poorest three “members of the community.
It was a movement that sowed the seeds of conservative euroscepticism that would later spark the Brexit schism in the party.
The Witches speech
Thatcher notified the EU community at a decisive moment in EU policy where she questioned the expansionist plans of Jacques Delors, who had pointed out that 80% of all decisions on economic and social policy would be made by the European Community. within 10 years a European government in “embryo”. That was a bridge too far for Thatcher.
The cold war ends
Collapse of the Berlin Wall and fall of communism in Eastern Europe, which would later lead to the expansion of the EU.
‘No no no’
The divisions between the UK and the EU deepened when Thatcher told the Commons in an infamous speech that it was’ no, no, no ‘to what she saw as Delors’ continued takeover. Rupert Murdoch’s Sun newspaper reinforces its opposition to Europe with a two-fingered “Up Yours Delors” front page.
Black wednesday
A collapse of the pound forced Prime Minister John Major and then-Chancellor Norman Lamont to remove the UK from the exchange rate mechanism.
The single market
On January 1, controls and customs duties were eliminated throughout the bloc. Thatcher praised the vision of “a single market without barriers, visible or invisible, giving you direct and unhindered access to the purchasing power of more than 300 million of the world’s richest and most prosperous people.”
Maastricht Treaty
Conservative rebels vote against the treaty that paved the way for the creation of the European Union. John Major won the vote the next day in a Pyrrhic victory.
Repairing the relationship
Tony Blair fixes the relationship. Adheres to the social charter and labor rights.
United Kingdom
Nigel Farage chose a MEP and immediately goes on the offensive in Brussels. “Our interests are best served if we are not members of this club,” he said in his inaugural address. “The playing field is almost as level as the decks of the Titanic after hitting an iceberg.”
The euro
Chancellor Gordon Brown decides that the UK will not join the euro.
The EU is expanding to include eight countries of the former Eastern Bloc, including Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
The EU expands again, allowing Romania and Bulgaria to join the club.
Migratory crisis
The anti-immigration hysteria seems to take hold with references to Katie Hopkins’ “cockroaches” in the Sun and tabloid headlines like “How many more can we take?” and “Calais Crisis: Send in the Dogs.”
David Cameron returns from Brussels with an EU reform package, but it is not enough to appease the eurosceptic wing of his own party.
Brexit referendum
The UK votes to leave the European Union, triggering the resignation of David Cameron and paving the way for Theresa May to become Prime Minister.
Britain leaves the EU
After years of parliamentary stalemate during Theresa May’s attempt to reach a deal, the UK leaves the EU.
If an annual agreement on catches is not reached, the EU fleets would be blocked in British waters. France is particularly concerned about the impact on its fishing communities and has taken a “maximalist” position that the status quo must be protected.
While the policy would deliver the promised additional catches as a Brexit bonus, it is understood that the government is also making new commitments to upholding EU sustainability standards and cooperating in data collection.
The offer was part of five new draft negotiating documents submitted by the government, including legal texts on fishing, “level playing field”, judicial and police cooperation, civil nuclear cooperation and coordination of social security.
An EU official said: “We can confirm that we received additional documents from the UK. We are studying them. “
According to sources in Brussels, the UK document on state aid, which remains the most controversial of the pending issues, offered to establish a series of “principles” on the control of internal subsidies.
The EU said the document offers hope that the UK will build on the provisions of the recently signed UK-Japan agreement. The trade deal with Tokyo prevents either party from indefinitely guaranteeing the debts of distressed companies or providing indefinite bailouts without approved restructuring plans.
But the document did not offer appropriate “governance” proposals that would allow Brussels to keep the UK on its commitments, EU sources said.
The EU wanted to ensure that commitments were honored and that, in the event of non-compliance, parts of the trade agreement could be immediately suspended.
EU diplomats also said that any agreement on such a method of regulating state aid should be taken “at the highest level” as it would represent a significant divergence from the Brussels proposal.
The EU has lobbied for the UK to accept the bloc’s state aid rules, which do not allow unfair subsidies to be awarded. Instead, the UK position would offer a remedy in the event of trade distortion.
“The agreement between the UK and Japan is obviously now the basis, but it is not enough yet and we need to bite,” said a diplomatic source. A second source added that the proposal was still “more of the same”, but that the negotiation of the week was expected to finalize it. “That is what matters,” said the source.
