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PARIS, Oct 23 (Reuters) - France is disappointed by the pace
of negotiations with Britain on settling a row about post-Brexit
fishing rights but talks are set to continue on Monday, the head
of a French fishing association said on Saturday.
His remarks appeared to suggest French fishermen were
stepping back from threats to hold protests from this weekend
over Britain's refusal to grant more fishing licences to their
vessels.
Olivier Lepretre, chairman of the Regional Maritime
Fisheries Committee in northern France, said talks this week had
resulted in only a handful of fishing licences being issued for
French fishing boats in British territorial waters.
He deemed this too timid a step to resolve the dispute with
Britain but said the European Commission, the EU executive,
would press on with talks with Britain.
"Technical work will continue over the coming days, and at a
steady pace," Lepretre said.
French officials accuse Britain of refusing to honour its
post-Brexit trade agreement with the EU, and the national
committee of maritime fishermen (CNPMEM) said that maritime
minister Annick Girardin had assured French fishermen she would
not give up the fight to obtain licences for them.
"(The minister) is disappointed by the technical work done
this week, but we can't deny some progress has been made,"
Lepretre said. "I can see that the government is not giving up
an inch."
The dispute centres on the issuance of licences to fish in
Britain's territorial waters six to 12 nautical miles off its
shores, as well as the seas off the coast of Jersey, a Crown
Dependency in the Channel.
Paris is angered by London's refusal to grant what it
considers the full number of licences due to French fishing
boats.
Britain said last month it was open to further discussion
with the boats it had rejected, adding that they had not
submitted evidence of their history of operating in the waters
which was needed to continue fishing in the 6-12 nautical mile
zone.
(Reporting by Richard Lough, editing Michel Rose and Timothy
Heritage)