Fishing row: France delays sanctions as talks over access continue

France will delay retaliatory measures against the UK while talks over post-Brexit fishing rights continue, Emmanuel Macron has said.

France had threatened to stop British boats offloading catches at its ports from midnight over the row.

But the French president told reporters the sanctions would be put off as talks between officials continued.

Environment Secretary George Eustice said there had been a "big de-escalation" of the row.

There had been "constructive talks" with France on Monday, he added.

"We very much welcome the fact that France has decided not to go ahead with its threats and we'll continue to have those constructive discussions."

Brexit minister Lord Frost will meet France's European affairs minister Clément Beaune on Thursday to discuss a range of Brexit issues.

The French government said its measures would now not come into effect before this meeting took place.

In a statement, the president's office added that it expected the UK to respond to France's latest proposals on licensing by Wednesday.

The row flared up last month, after the UK and Jersey denied permits to dozens of French boats to operate in waters near their coastline.

France had threatened to take a series of measures against the UK unless more licences were granted by midnight on Monday into Tuesday.

Representatives from the EU Commission, France, the UK and the Channel Islands began talks on Monday, seeking to defuse the row.

French media quoted Mr Macron telling reporters at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow these would now continue on Tuesday.

"It's not while we're negotiating that we're going to impose sanctions," he was quoted as saying.

"We'll see where we are tomorrow [Tuesday] at the end of the day, to see if things have really changed," he added.

Under the Brexit trade deal, the EU and UK agreed they would give licences to boats if they can show they have fished in each other's waters for years.

But there have been disagreements about how much evidence is needed, leading to anger from France when applications were denied by the UK and Jersey.

Big trawlers will routinely collect this sort of information using things like data from Automatic Identification Systems.

Smaller vessels that come from French harbours to fish around the Channel Islands, for example, would find it harder to provide this kind of proof.

The retaliatory measures threatened by France include preventing British fishing boats from offloading catches at its ports, and stepping up border checks on UK goods.

Officials in Paris have also threatened to tighten security checks on British boats, and increase checks on trucks going to and from the UK.

Last week, a British trawler was seized by France while fishing in French waters.

Mr Eustice told the BBC there had been some "administrative confusion" but that he did not think the vessel was still being held by the French.

But Macduff Shellfish, the owners of the seized Cornelis Gert Jan have told the BBC they are "not aware" that their trawler has been released by French authorities.

Andrew Brown, the company's director of sustainability and public affairs, said: "Right now we are tied up seeking to secure the release of the vessel. We are not aware that the vessel has been released. Our understanding is that the vessel remains held at Le Havre at least until the hearing takes place tomorrow (Wednesday)."

Sources at the environment department have told the BBC that contrary to Mr Eustice's previous assertion, the British fishing boat is still impounded by the French authorities in Le Havre.

They add that the boat's impoundment is seen as a "routine enforcement action" by the French and is not connected to the wider fishing row, so is unlikely to be raised as part of negotiations on licences.

For some, it seems, President Macron could never have won.

Pressing ahead with trade disruptions over "a few dozen" fishing licences risked looking stroppy.

Backing down has been seen by some UK figures - and French fishermen - as capitulation.

Of course, this row isn't just about fishing licences. And a wider lack of trust between French and British politicians is feeding the fire.

In France, the deadlock is often explained by Boris Johnson's wish to blame someone else for the impact of Brexit.

If the French are disrupting trade, the argument goes, any problems can be blamed on them.

In the UK, Emmanuel Macron - irritated by Britain's behaviour and months ahead of a presidential race - is seen as vindictive, needing to prove to his own electorate that leaving the EU is a mistake.

The UK government has said it welcomes the new round of discussions, saying it's "ready to consider any new evidence" to support the remaining licence applications. In other words: its core position on issuing licences hasn't changed.

The two men who will meet in Paris on Thursday - France's Europe Minister Clément Beaune, and Britain's Brexit Minister, David Frost - have been among the most outspoken critics on either side.

Mr Beaune said last week that the UK only understood "the language of force".

Threats are one thing, but a real escalation could get messy for both sides.

Will the language of diplomacy work any better now?

Barrie Deas, the chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations, said it was important that licences "aren't just handed out like confetti" to EU vessels.

He told BBC Breakfast there needed to be a way found to identify the vessels that had historically fished in the waters.

"I think it's the intervention of probably domestic politics in France that have escalated this out of all recognition from a fisheries issue."

Speaking earlier, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss accused France of "unfairly" setting a deadline for issuing more fishing permits.

She rejected a French accusation that the UK had breached the Brexit trade deal over the way it had issued licences.

And she had warned the UK would be prepared to take legal action under the deal, unless France withdrew its threats.

Emilie Devogel, who sells fish in Boulogne-sur-Mer that are caught by her husband Jérémy, told the BBC some of the fishermen are getting worried.

"We are starting to lose hope. We only want, while respecting fish resources, to be able to work just like before.

"It's very tense. We don't know any more where we stand and on top of that, some boats have licences, others don't, it creates conflicts."

Speaking to the BBC on Monday, Matt, a fisherman from Dover, said: "We're only asking them [the French] that if they are going to fish in our waters to abide by the same rules and produce evidence to say they have been fishing in our waters.

"We have been completely fair, completely open and completely honest - the French are acting very irresponsibly."