PARIS (Reuters) – French European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune and British Brexit minister David Frost met in Paris on Thursday in what Beaune said was an effort to relaunch dialogue after weeks of rising tension over fishing rights.
The dispute erupted in September after Paris accused London of failing to allocate enough licences to French boats in the wake of Britain’s exit from the European Union, while London said it was respecting the deal.
“Happy to welcome in Paris @DavidGHFrost to relaunch a necessary dialogue and ensure the implementation of our agreements,” Beaune said on Twitter, posting a picture of the two shaking hands in front of the British, French and EU flags.
Neither Paris nor London immediately gave details of what they discussed but the British side made clear the meeting was about laying out concerns rather than reaching any deal.
“As foreshadowed, they discussed the range of difficulties arising from the application of the agreements between the UK and the EU. Both sides set out their positions and concerns,” a British government spokesperson said, adding that Frost and Beaune were expected to speak again early next week.
Frost will meet European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic in Brussels on Friday, the spokesperson said.
Beaune also shook hands with Frost on the front steps of the ministry, with both men smiling and chatting in front of TV cameras at the end of the discussions, which lasted about two hours.
On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron postponed trade sanctions he planned against Britain over the licensing dispute so that both sides could work on new proposals.
The measures threatened by France include increased border and sanitary checks on goods coming from Britain and banning British vessels from some French ports – steps that could potentially snarl cross-Channel trade.
Britain and France have argued for decades over access to the rich fishing grounds around their Channel coasts, an issue which also dogged years of Brexit negotiations before Britain completed its withdrawal at the end of 2020.
The latest dispute over the number of post-Brexit fishing licences saw France seize a British scallop dredger, which has since been released.
Reasserting British control over its fishing grounds was a central plank of the case for Brexit that Prime Minister Boris Johnson presented to British voters.
(Reporting by Noemie Olive and Sudip Kar-Gupta in Paris and Michael Holden in London, writing by Ingrid Melander, Editing by Mark Heinrich and Catherine Evans)
