‘NOT HELPFUL’
“France is a longstanding ally. It was an open meeting. They had a lot to discuss,” Johnson’s spokesman said.
But he stressed the UK would continue to process applications by French and other EU fishing vessels to ply its waters based solely on technical data.
“We stand ready to work with the French government and individual fishermen if they have the requisite data. There’s no further work to be done.”
Johnson’s own focus in the Macron meeting was on persuading the EU to amend a post-Brexit protocol governing trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the spokesman added.
And he said a strongly worded letter from French Prime Minister Jean Castex, urging EU chief Ursula von der Leyen to punish Britain over Brexit, was “not helpful”.
On Saturday in Rome, Johnson complained to von der Leyen that the French threats were “completely unjustified”.
London is warning it could activate a Brexit dispute tool for the first time, exposing all of the EU to potential UK trade measures, if France executes its threatened actions on Tuesday.
Paris had vowed that unless more licences are approved, it would ban UK boats from unloading their catches at French ports, and even impose checks on all products brought to France from Britain.
For his part, Macron warned Friday that Britain’s “credibility” was on the line, accusing London of ignoring the Brexit trade deal agreed with Brussels after years of tortuous negotiations.
“When you spend years negotiating a treaty and then a few months later you do the opposite of what was decided on the aspects that suit you the least, it is not a big sign of your credibility,” he told the Financial Times.
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