A UK Government Minister has backed Scottish fishermens’ claims that the EU's position on accessing British waters post-Brexit is unacceptable.
George Eustice, the Environment Minister, said he expected discussions to continue around shared fishing stocks after Britain left the bloc but made clear the Government wanted to "take back control of our waters".
Earlier this week, the publication of the EU’s draft trade negotiation guidelines sparked anger in the UK fishing industry after Brussels directly linked agreeing a tariff-free trade deal with maintaining the EU27’s current access to UK waters.
Fishing groups branded the EU27 move "arrogant, absurd and nonsensical" while Scottish politicians urged Theresa May to stand up to Brussels and defend UK fishing rights.
Yet Chancellor Philip Hammond was accused of bargaining with Britain's fishing industry to get a better Brexit deal for the City after he said he was "open" to allowing EU trawlers into UK waters.
At Commons question-time, Tory MP David Duguid, who represents Banff and Buchan, told MPs it was clear the EU27 was suggesting “any future trade deal will be heavily dependent on EU fishermen maintaining their current unfair access to British waters".
He asked Mr Eustace: "Agreeing that the EU's position is clearly unacceptable to fishing communities around the UK, can he confirm that this Government considers the EU's position on this just as unacceptable?"
The minister replied: "Yes. I simply say to him that this is an EU position. They currently benefit considerably from access to UK waters.
"At the moment the UK fleet access around 100,000 tonnes of fish in EU waters. The EU access 700,000 tonnes of fish from UK waters, so they would say that, wouldn't they. But it is not a position that the UK Government shares."
However, the UK fishing industry is worried that fishing rights will be used as key bargaining chip by Theresa May and her colleagues in the Brexit talks given the heavy reliance by EU fishermen for their catches on UK waters.
The Prime Minister and other ministers, including Environment Secretary Michael Gove, have confidently and consistently declared Britain will leave the Common Fisheries Policy in March 2019 when Brexit happens.
But Brussels argues the UK should remain governed by CFP rules – which gives member states fishing rights up to 200 nautical miles off the UK coastline - right up to the end of the two-year transition period.
The Scottish fishing industry insists only a “nine-month bridge” is required for transition from March 2019.
Given quotas are set in December for the following year, then if Mrs May were to give into the EU27’s demand of maintaining current access during the transition, then UK fishermen face being bound by CFP rules for two years and nine months up to December 2021.
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