The European Union (E.U.) is ready to demand unfettered fishing rights in UK waters and may target energy supplies as leverage to get what it wants, a report Friday sets out.
Under the existing Brexit deal, the bloc’s fishermen were permitted access to parts of Britain’s coastal seas, but the amount the E.U.’s fishers could take in UK waters was to be slashed by a quarter over five and a half years up to 2026.
Brussels wants to keep the deal, but according to a report in the Daily Telegraph, the bloc will renegotiate the UK-E.U. Brexit agreement, known as the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, if Britain allows E.U. fishers full and free access to its waters.
The Brexit deal expires in 2026, along with the UK’s energy agreement with Brussels, which maintained Britain’s access to E.U. gas and electricity markets after the country left the EU in January 2020.
Anand Menon, Director of the UK in a Changing Europe think tank, told the Telegraph: “It’s no coincidence that the energy and fisheries provisions of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement expire on the same day.”
He added fisheries “really matter” politically in the E.U. so the bloc will be “determined” to secure ongoing access to British waters and will be willing to use energy as a bargaining chip.
To date Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has not offered any explicit reassurances to the fishing industry that he will act in their best interests.
After a meeting with European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen last month, he reportedly said: “There will be issues which are difficult to resolve and areas on which we will stand firm.”
This sparked fury from political opponents.
Shadow environment spokesman Steve Barclay warned Sir Keir earlier he “must rule out giving in to Brussels’ demands for greater access to our fishing waters.”
Reform UK leader Richard Tice told the Daily Express “Labour hasn’t once spoken about our fishing industry or signalled any intention to fight for a fairer deal.
“Both parties have failed time and time again, it’s no wonder Reform is surging in the polls.”