UK welcomes French move to delay sanctions over fishing dispute

The UK has welcomed the French government's announcement that it will not go ahead with implementing sanction measures over an ongoing fishing dispute, a government spokesperson said here.

"As we have said consistently, we are ready to continue intensive discussions on fisheries, including considering any new evidence to support the remaining license applications," Xinhua news agency quoted the spokesperson as saying in a statement.

The spokesperson said the UK's Brexit Minister David Frost has accepted France's European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune's invitation for talks in Paris on Thursday.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who earlier on Monday met British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the UN climate conference in Glasgow, told reporters that the French plan was on hold pending the outcome of renewed talks.


France seized a British trawler and gave a warning to another boat on October 28, following threats of retaliatory measures against the UK's fishing industry and other trade, including preventing British fishing boats from disembarking at ports, increasing border and sanitary checks on British goods.

Post-Brexit fishing row between Britain and France started earlier this year after the British Channel island of Jersey's government introduced a new licensing system requiring French boats to show fishing history in Jersey's waters to obtain future permits.

It prompted both sides to dispatch navy vessels to monitor the situation in Jersey's waters in May - IANS