The European Union won a trial against the United Kingdom on Friday before the oldest arbitration body in the world, with respect to the fishing rights of a small North Sea fish. Brussels presented the case before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (CPA) of The Hague, after a decision made by London in March to ban any commercial fishing of Lançon, also called Anguille des Sbles, in British waters.
This is the first judicial commercial battle between Bloc Des 27 and the United Kingdom since its EU release in 2020. In a sentence of 298 pages, the CPA retained the EU argument that the United Kingdom did not comply with its commitments in the commercial agreement after Brexit.
The CPA decided that the United Kingdom “has not been able to grant full access to its waters for Lançon fishing,” the ruling said. He also ordered London to take the necessary measures to fulfill “the agreement, that he had given access to the EU to the British waters for several years for a period of transition after Brexit.
Access to British waters before a renegotiation in mid -2016
Brussels supports Denmark in this dispute, whose ships appropriate approximately 96 % of the EU quota for this species, the Lançon took 49 million euros per year on average. Maciej Beresteccki, spokesman for the European Parliament Fishing Commission, welcomed the decision, indicating that the EU “will continue to support a mutually beneficial relationship with the United Kingdom in the field of fishing, emphasizing sustainability.”
British lawyers had argued in January that, due to climate change and commercial fishing, it is likely that Lançon knew “a new decrease”, as well as the species that depend on the small fish to eat, such as puffs or seals. Brussels accused London of not having respected the trade and cooperation agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union by prohibiting fishing. According to this agreement, EU fishermen maintained access to British waters for a period of five and a half years, ending in mid -2026.
After that, access to the respective waters will be decided during annual negotiations. “The United Kingdom must now notify the EU, within 30 days after the decision, the measures that it has taken or intends to make to meet the decision,” said Maciej Beresteccki. London is also called to inform any “reasonable delay” need to implement “the necessary changes to fulfill,” he continued. According to experts, the dispute is an indicator of other possible disputes to intervene between London and Brussels in the fishing sector.
Source: BFM TV
