For the British government, a successful Brexit means re-asserting economic sovereignty and landing a trade deal with Europe. Trawler captain Stephane Fait and his fellow French fisherman could sink that plan, reports Reuters.
Based in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France’s busiest fishing port and a major European processing center, Fait and his crew earn the bulk of their income from fish caught in British waters.
In negotiations on a post-Brexit trade deal that get underway after Britain’s January 31st exit from the European Union, Britain will say EU vessels like Fait’s Notre Dame de Boulogne trawler no longer have automatic access to British waters.
But French fishermen won’t accept that and they have leverage: pressuring Brussels via French President Emmanuel Macron to withhold the trade deal unless Britain lets EU trawlers fish its waters.
“Macron mustn’t give an inch to Britain,” the captain said as his crew unloaded 2 tonnes of squid, red mullet and whiting this week.
Fait, 50, said his livelihood was at risk and wants Macron to retaliate against any restrictions imposed by London with a ban on British-caught fish entering the EU.
The fishing row shows how just one small industry - which plays a tiny economic role but has outsize political influence - can undo Britain’s ambitions of landing a wider deal that preserves its access to European markets.