Britain threatened on Friday to board French fishing boats and France stood by a plan to impose sanctions on British vessels in a deepening row over post-Brexit fishing rights.
The long-running dispute flared this week after France listed measures that would be taken against Britain if London did not allow more French trawlers to fish in UK waters and then seized a British boat in French territorial waters.
Britain challenged France’s explanation that the scallop dredger had no permission to fish in French waters, and hit back by threatening retaliation and summoning the French ambassador to London for talks later on Friday to explain Paris’s actions.
The row is part of a wider dispute over post-Brexit trade arrangements between Britain and the European Union which could lead to severe disruptions before Christmas if it spins out of control.
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British Environment Secretary George Eustice said London could retaliate if France enforces sanctions including extra customs checks on British goods from Tuesday. The prospect of Paris also raising energy tariffs to Britain also loomed.
“Obviously it’s always open to us to always increase the enforcement that we do on French vessels, to board more of them if that’s what they’re doing to our vessels,” Eustice told BBC television.
“There are other administrative things that we can require of vessels,” he said.
French Agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie told France 2 TV there had been no progress in the negotiations for more licences to fish in British and said it was right for France to consider sanctions against Britain.
