Brussels to demand Keir Starmer surrender Britain’s fishing rights in bid to secure EU reset
The European Union is set to demand that Keir Starmer surrender Britain’s fishing rights in a bid to secure a post-Brexit trade deal.
Brussels is believed to be seeking a deal whereby the UK must accept rulings made by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to improve working relationships between the UK and the economic bloc.
Their new demands have marked the first time since Britain’s departure from the EU that the country has had to abide by EU law, detailed in documents seen by The Times.
The same document has outlined that Starmer should undo UK policy on its independent marine protection, allowing European fishermen to enter British waters.
As part of a new deal, the EU is said to seek to make the UK concede on issues of fishing, the ECJ, as well as youth mobility.
Regarding fishing, the document has said that the UK must abide by “the maintenance of the status quo” to permit access for European boats.
The current arrangements – as they stand – have been dubbed a “neo-colonial relationship with the EU” by the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO) since the nation has yielded control over fishing resources.
Put together following months of discussions, the document reads: “The maintenance of the status quo is essential for member states.
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“A reset between the Union and the UK is only credible if it is based on an early understanding on this.”
Chief executive officer of the NFFO Mike Cohen said that the deal cost the UK much more than the EU, highlighting that the French catch most of the Channel cod, while the Belgians catch the most Welsh sole.
He said: “In a situation almost without precedent, foreign boats fish in the UK’s territorial waters, just six miles from the coast.”
Meanwhile, the co-founder of conservation charity Blue Marine Foundation, Charles Clover, has said that the demands are “absolutely outrageous”, adding that, if a deal was reached, British waters would allow “French trawlers” to “trash UK marine protected areas”.
He added: “This is an unprincipled, unselfconsciously greedy mugging of the UK on behalf of the EU’s fishing nations, completely ignoring the EU’s own commitments to protecting nature.”
Director of the Centre for European Reform Charles Grant has said that, although the EU demands would be challenging for the British PM, the deal could drive long-term economic gains for the UK.
He said: “Starmer’s reset is going to require him to do some politically difficult things which will undoubtedly anger the Conservatives and Reform.”
“The EU is going to insist on dynamic alignment and a role for the European Court as the price of an SPS deal.
“But if it can be negotiated it would set a precedent for much closer co-operation across a range of other areas, such as energy, that would be mutually beneficial.
“The British just need to work out exactly what they want in terms of a better trading relationship, and what they are prepared to concede in other areas such as youth mobility or fish, to get the deal through.”