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The owners of the British trawler seized by France during the escalating row over fishing licences will have to pay bail of more than £125,000 before being allowed to return the UK.News of the sum emerged on Monday and follows the Scottish skipper of the Cornelis Gert Jan being told that he faces a fine of more than £63,000 if convicted following a criminal trial next year.It also came as the the British Foreign Secretary increased the rhetoric over the squabble, by giving the French government a 48-hour deadline to withdraw threats against Britain over post-Brexit fishing licences.Liz Truss blasted “completely unreasonable threats” to the fishing industry and threatened to sue France under the terms of the Brexit deal.“They need to withdraw those threats, or else we will use the mechanisms of our trade agreement with the EU to take action,” she said, as the Anglo-French relationship was heading for Brexit meltdown on the first day of the UN COP26 climate summit, which the UK is hosting.She was speaking after the Seine-Maritime prefecture confirmed that the Cornelis would remain in the Normandy port of Le Havre unless its crew paid “a 150,000 euros deposit” – the equivalent of more than £125,000.A spokesperson said: “The boat will not be allowed to leave until that sum is paid.”It far outweighs anything the boat might have earned during what started off as a five-day trip to France to fish for scallops.The boat was detained by gendarmes last Wednesday, and escorted to the quayside at Le Havre, where they have remained every since, sparking a diplomatic incident.Its skipper, who has not been formally named, has been charged with “acts of unauthorised sea fishing in French maritime salt waters by a third-party vessel to the European Union”.Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the growing diplomatic row at the G20 in Rome at the weekend.Mr Johnson said he had been “puzzled” to read a letter from Paris to the EU which, he claimed, asked “for Britain to be punished for leaving the EU”.Referring directly to Brexit, the Prime Minister said: “I don’t believe that is compatible either with the spirit or the letter of the Withdrawal Agreement of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and that’s probably all I’ll say about that.”In turn, Mr Macron said: “I don’t want escalation. We need to be serious. I don’t want to have to use retaliation measures because that wouldn’t help our fishermen.”Mr Macron said Paris had offered proposals to London and “now the ball is in Britain’s court”.France’s European minister Clement Beaune said the current row was “a breach” of the Brexit agreement and that it was a “political choice” on London’s part.With no side backing down and stalemate looming, Tuesday could see a major escalation in the crisis.Andrew Brown, director of Scottish firm MacDuff Shellfish, which own the Cornelis, said the boat was being used as a “pawn” by the French, and had not acted illegally.Mr Brown said last week: “We are looking to the UK government to defend the rights of the UK fishing fleet and ensure that the fishing rights provided under the Brexit fishing agreement are fully respected by the EU.”On Monday morning, the Cornelis was still moored in Le Havre, with its crew of eight on board.The boat headed out from Shoreham, Sussex, early last Tuesday morning.Her seizure is the latest move by France in an ongoing row with the UK over who has rights to fishing grounds in the Channel now Britain has left the EU.Clement Beaune, France’s Europe minister, has said “we need to speak the language of force” to Britain because it is “the only thing this government understands”.He was immediately accused of “sabre rattling” by British critics, as was Annick Girardin, the Maritime Minister in Paris, who said: “It’s not war, but it is a fight.” More

The EU must show that Brexit has been“damaging” to the UK, the French prime minister has told Brussels in a letter calling for support for tougher actions over the Channel fishing dispute.Jean Castex wrote a letter to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday setting out reasons why the EU should act against Britain over the limited granting of licences for French fishermen to operate in British waters post-Brexit.He wrote that the EU had to make clear that “leaving the union is more damaging than remaining in it”.Paris is threatening to increase checks on British boats, stop them landing in French ports, slow customs arrangements in Calais and increase tariffs on energy bills in Jersey from Tuesday unless French fishermen are granted more licences to British waters around Jersey and Guernsey.A translation of Mr Castex’s letter says: “The uncooperative attitude of the United Kingdom today risks not only causing great harm to fishermen, mainly French, but also for the [European] union, in that it sets a precedent for the future and challenges our credibility and our ability to assert our rights with regard to international commitments signed by the union.“It therefore seems necessary for the European Union to show its total determination to obtain full respect for the agreement by the United Kingdom and to assert its rights by using the levers at its disposal in a firm, united and proportionate manner. “It is essential to clearly show to European public opinion that respect for subscribed engagement is non-negotiable and that there is more damage in leaving the union than in remaining there.”Mr Castex continued in his letter: “If no satisfactory solution is found in this context, the European Union will have to apply Article 506 of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and take corrective measures, in a manner proportionate to the economic and social damage resulting from the breaches.”He suggested to Ms Von der Leyen that they could impose “customs duties on certain fishery products” as punishment.The “restoration of trust” lies upon the UK granting French fishermen more fishing licences, his letter also says.Boris Johnson has said that he would “do whatever is necessary to ensure UK interests” if France carries out its threats over the licences.He said that the Anglo-French relationship was undergoing “turbulence” and that the French authorities’ decision to impound a British fishing vessel may have broken international law.Mr Johnson will meet with French president Emmanuel Macron over the weekend at the G20 summit in Rome for their first face-to-face encounter in four months – after both sides have been accusing each other of breaching the Brexit agreement.The PM, who arrived in Rome last night, responded to the French threats by saying: “We fear that there may be a breach in terms of the Trade Co-operation Agreement implicit in what’s happening. We will standby to take the appropriate action.”In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Macron suggested that the UK’s “credibility” was at stake over the dispute.He told the newspaper: “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.” More

The crew of a British fishing boat detained by French police are “in good spirits” and will remain onboard the vessel until its release, its owner has said. Scottish firm Macduff Shellfish said its main concern was the welfare of the crew on the Cornelis-Gert Jan, which was boarded by French authorities on Wednesday.France said the scallop vessel was detained for not having the correct licence to fish its waters, but the trawler’s owners said it was operating legally.It was still being held in the port at Le Havre, a city in Normandy, on Thursday.It comes amid a bitter and escalating row between France and the UK over post-Brexit fishing rights. The UK government has summoned the French ambassador in an attempt to make progress in the dispute. As the Macduff Shellfish boat remained moored in Le Havre’s port, Andrew Brown, the Scottish firm’s director of sustainability and public affairs, said: “Our priority concern is for the welfare of the crew of the Cornelis.“The crew are in good spirits and will remain on board the vessel until its release.”Mr Brown said on Thursday the skipper of the boat had left the ship to be interviewed by authorities and “we have ensured that he has legal representation throughout these discussions”.He added the scallop vessel was ordered into a French port on Wednesday “while legally fishing for scallop in French waters”. “It appears our vessel has been caught up in the ongoing dispute between the UK and France on the implementation of the Brexit Fishing Agreement,” he said.“We are looking to the UK government to defend the rights of the UK fishing fleet and ensure that the fishing rights provided under the Brexit Fishing agreement are fully respected by the EU.“We will vigorously defend ourselves against any claims.”The French maritime ministry said two British vessels were sanctioned by authorities on Wednesday: one for obstructing checks and the second for not having a licence to fish in French waters. The latter was diverted into Le Havre’s port, the statement added. George Eustice, the UK environment secretary, told MPs on Thursday he understood the Cornelis was on a list provided by the Marine Management Organisation to the European Union, who granted a licence.“We are seeing some reports that, for some reason, they were subsequently withdrawn from the list; it’s unclear why that might have been at the moment,” he added. It comes amid anger in France after the UK and Jersey turned down applications from dozens of French boats to fish in their waters in what Paris said was a breach of Britain’s post-Brexit trade deal with the EU.French ministers have warned they will block British boats from some ports and tighten checks on vessels travelling between France and the UK if the issue is not resolved by Tuesday.Annick Giradin, France’s minister for the seas, tweeted on Thursday: “It’s been nine months since French fishermen have not been able to work.” She also accused the UK of breaching its agreement.A UK government spokesperson said proposed French actions were “unjustified” and they regretted “confrontational language” used by France in the row. The Foreign Office on Thursday summoned French ambassador Catherine Colonna for talks after Brexit minister David Frost held a crisis meeting of senior cabinet colleagues.Lord Frost said he was “concerned by French plans on fisheries and beyond” and expected to have more to say on Friday. More

France has been accused of stealing five million coronavirus vaccine doses destined for the UK.President Emmanuel Macron allegedly worked with EU chiefs to divert the large batch of Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs to his country earlier this year.The vaccines were expected to arrive in the UK but were instead redirected from Holland at the eleventh hour, according to The Sun.The newspaper quoted senior government sources as saying the “outrageous” move could have cost lives if not for the UK’s successful rollout of the Pfizer jab.AstraZeneca boss Ruud Dobber had announced publicly on 22 March that a vaccine batch was expected to arrive in Britain from its Halix site in Holland.But it reportedly never arrived, having instead been diverted to the EU’s scheme.The Sun said it was also claimed France made a veiled threat to prime minister Boris Johnson that it would cut off supplies of Pfizer, which would have jeopardised Britain’s vaccine rollout.The alleged incident is said to have sparked a major row between Mr Johnson and his French counterpart.It came at a time when Mr Macron was criticising the AstraZeneca vaccine, claiming it was “quasi-ineffective” and telling reporters the jab “doesn’t work the way we were expecting to”.He also appeared to criticise the UK’s vaccine rollout strategy, which at the time had resulted in more people being given a first dose than any other European country.The European Union was simultaneously threatening to impose export controls on Covid-19 vaccines after a major row with AstraZeneca, which was accused of cutting initial deliveries to the bloc by up to 60 per cent.A government source told The Sun: “The French stole our vaccines at the same time as they were slagging them off in public and suggesting they weren’t safe to use.“It was an outrageous thing to do and not the action of an ally, which was made very clear to them.” More

France has hit out at Australia’s decision to abandon a £43bn deal for French submarines in favour of a new security pact.The French government reacted angrily to news Australia, the UK and the US have entered an alliance that will involve building a nuclear-powered submarine fleet and wide-ranging projects on cyber warfare, artificial intelligence and quantum computing.Jean-Yves Le Drian, France’s foreign affairs minister, claimed the move was a “stab in the back” from Australia, telling Franceinfo: “We had established a trusting relationship with Australia, and this trust was betrayed.”The EU’s high representative, Josep Borrell said the bloc had not been consulted on the security pact, even as Brussels unveiled its own Indo-Pacific strategy.He said the decision by the Australian government to abandon the submarine deal with France meant that it was important for the EU to build its own approach to the region.“We must survive on our own, as others do,” Borrell said as he presented the strategy, talking of the importance of “strategic autonomy” “I understand the extent to which the French government must be disappointed.” However, British prime minister Boris Johnson insisted the UK’s relationship with France was “rock solid” when asked in parliament on Thursday.The so-called Aukus deal has also angered China, which accused the trio of “severely damaging regional peace and stability, intensifying an arms race, and damaging international nuclear non-proliferation efforts”.Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said countries should not build partnerships that target third countries and that China would “closely watch the situation’s development”.The move has been widely interpreted as an attempt to check China’s growing military assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific.However, the prime minister insisted Britain’s new defence pact was not intended as an “adversarial” move against China.He told the House of Commons: “It merely reflects the close relationship that we have with the United States and with Australia, the shared values that we have and the sheer level of trust between us that enables us to go to this extraordinary extent of sharing nuclear technology in the way that we are proposing to do.“It is true that that this is a huge increase in the levels of trust between the UK, the US and Australia.“It is a fantastic defence technology partnership that we are building – but it is not actually revolutionary.”Downing Street declined to comment on the collapsed Australian contract for conventional subs, saying this was a matter between Paris and Canberra.The prime minister’s official spokesperson added: “We continue to have a very close relationship with France, we have long standing security and defence relationships with France.“We have members of the armed forces working side by side right now and that will continue to be the case.”The spokesperson said defence secretary Ben Wallace had been in contact with his French counterpart, but there were no plans for a phone call between Boris Johnson and French president Emmanuel Macron.He confirmed the Aukus deal was discussed by Mr Johnson with US president Joe Biden and Australian prime minister Scott Morrison in a three-way meeting at the G7 summit in Cornwall in June, but played down suggestions this was the decisive moment in the agreement, which he said had been “an undertaking of several months”.Mr Johnson’s spokesperson suggested the UK’s ability to seal the deal could be regarded as a benefit from Brexit.“We are able to move in this in this way now that we’re not part of the European Union, and that is to the benefit of the British people,” he said.The UK’s commitment to Nato remained unchanged by the Aukus deal, he said.And he rejected suggestions it might undermine the “Five Eyes” intelligence relationship by creating an “inner circle” of three members while excluding Canada and New Zealand.The EU’s strategy will focus on trade, greater digital cooperation with Japan, South Korea and Singapore, support for climate change initiatives and a greater diplomatic presence to uphold the United Nations Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). It also plans to collaborate with Japan, India and Australia on transport links, in particular in the aviation and maritime industry, to link the bloc more closely to Asia.This comes after the EU on Wednesday launched a new plan to rival China’s Belt and Road infrastructure strategy, which it calls “Global Gateway”An 18-month process will now take place to consider technical and practical aspects of the AUKUS plan, and work out precise details of where work will be undertaken and jobs created, said the spokesperson.But he said there would be “extensive work” in the UK, creating “hundreds and hundreds” of jobs and generating tens of billions of investment over the lifetime of the project.Additional reporting by agencies More

The EU’s former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier stunned ex-colleagues in Brussels by launching a blistering attack on the power of the European courts.Mr Barnier – who is running for the French presidency against Emmanuel Macron – said it was time for France to “regain sovereignty” lost to the European judiciary.The politician who negotiated the Brexit deal on behalf of Brussels appears to have adopted Eurosceptic rhetoric in his bid to win the presidency for the centre-right Republicans.“We must regain our legal sovereignty in order to no longer be subjected to the judgements of the European Court of Justice or the European Court of Human Rights,” the former EU Commissioner said on Thursday.Mr Barnier repeated his call for a referendum to impose a five-year moratorium on immigration to France from outside the EU. “We will propose a referendum in September 2022 on the question of immigration,” he told a rally in Nimes.Mr Barnier later issued a tweet attempting to clarify his rally remarks – saying he did not want France to break entirely free of the European courts but to create a “constitutional shield” to give the country more power over immigration issues.“Let us keep calm,” the presidential candidate also tweeted, claiming he wanted to “avoid any unnecessary controversy”.While some found Mr Barnier’s remarks “ironic” – given his stance defence of freedom of movement during the Brexit process – others said he was in danger of “destroying his legacy”.“One wonders how a sentence like that can come from such a committed European,” Clément Beaune, France’s junior minister for EU affairs, told Politico on his latest remarks.Julien Hoez from the European Liberal Forum said: “Michel Barnier is giving a masterclass on how to destroy your career and legacy in the desperate hope of looking electable to an electorate that just straight up dislikes you regardless.”The 70-year-old Republican candidate, who left the EU Commission in March, was one of the most prominent faces of the Brexit negotiations and regularly criticised Brexiteers in the Conservative Party.Responding to his attack on the European courts, Conservative MP Simon Clarke tweeted: “This is ironic in the extreme.”Polls in France have next year’s contest as a race between incumbent Mr Macron and far-right National Rally candidate Marine Le Pen.But Mr Barnier is hoping to make a strong showing in the first round of the contest, which is scheduled for April 2022. More