The UK and the EU have eventually decided to use common sense and settle the conflict over fisheries. Once it used to be a major stumbling block on the path to the Brexit deal. On June 11, the parties agreed on the UK fishing rights in the territorial waters between the continent and the British Isles.
After the Kingdom had left the EU, the thorny question of fishing in the territorial waters in dispute remained open. In the course of the painstaking talks, the EU and the UK used to be on the verge of a serious conflict. The UK authorities were about to unilaterally ban European fishing boats from catching fish in the British waters in the North Sea. London accounted this move by the care for the environment and found it appropriate to disrupt French boats fishing in proximity to the island of Jersey.
In response, France deployed two naval patrol vessels to the English Channel. They remained there until the arrival of two HM river-class military vessels of the British Navy. Besides, Paris threatened to cut supplied of electricity to Jersey as a sign of protest against tough conditions of obtaining fishing licenses by French fishermen. On top of that, French lawmakers even wanted to ban British banks from operating in France. As a result, the European Council and the UK nailed down this thorny issue as part of the EU – UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement that sets out fishing quotas until the end of 2021 and until 2022 with regard to particular fish species. Commonly, such agreements are reached before the beginning of a calendar year so that fishermen could plan on fish volumes caught in the year ahead.
