A person familiar with the matter disclosed on the 1st that the fishery issues in the future relations negotiations between the UK and the European Union after Brexit have made some progress, and the two sides may reach an agreement before the middle of this month.
Two EU sources said that both the EU and the UK have found possible solutions for EU fishermen’s access rights to fish in British waters starting next year.
The plan will allow the British side to claim to regain control of the territorial waters and expand the fishing rights of British fishermen, while EU fishermen will not immediately lose their fishing quotas.
The specific quotas will be discussed and confirmed at a later date. Even if the two sides still have differences on quotas, it will not necessarily lead to a wider Anglo-European future relationship agreement difficult to produce.
Bloomberg inferred that if the disputed issue of fisheries is resolved, it means that Britain and Europe may still reach a future relationship agreement before the previously set deadline of mid-November.
One of the prerequisites for the EU’s insistence on reaching an agreement is that the two sides reached a compromise on fisheries, making the fishery issue, which is not a prominent economic share, one of the biggest roadblocks in the negotiations.
On the issue of fisheries, the strongest position within the EU is France. However, French Minister of European Affairs Clement Bona told the BBC on the 1st that he believes that it is possible to “find a solution that respects the interests of both parties” and reach an agreement to balance the priority policy directions of both parties in “a few days or two weeks”. “Cautiously optimistic.”
People familiar with the matter also disclosed that even if significant progress is made on the fisheries issue, the two sides still have important differences to be resolved, especially to ensure a “level playing field” in the EU market.
The European Union initiated legal proceedings in early October, accusing the British government of drafting the “Internal Market Act” that undermined the signed and legally valid “Brexit” agreement between the two parties, and requiring the British side to respond before October 31, otherwise it will file a lawsuit in the European Court of Justice .
The British side did not respond to the EU within the time limit, but the two sides did not hold on to this point. Bloomberg believes that this is another positive sign of the negotiations. An EU official said that the EU will still advance relevant legal procedures, but hopes that the two sides will resolve this dispute peacefully.
