LONDON (The Telegraph) – French trawlermen are drawing up plans to ruin Christmas for millions of Britons by blockading Calais and other key ports in response to the resolution of the post-Brexit dispute over fishing licenses.
Industry sources told the Telegraph on Sunday that they will attempt to snare up cross-Channel trade over the festival period because many of their colleagues were refused permits to operate in Britain’s waters.
“We have made it clear: protests are planned, following on from the blockade of Breton and Norman ports that took place on November 26,” said Oliver Lepretre, head of the Hauts-de-France regional fisheries committee.
“Actions will target the import of British products. French fishermen are more than ever united against adversity and don’t intend to take it lying down faced with so much bad faith.”
The threats came after Britain and Jersey agreed to license 23 more French vessels to trawl their waters in a conclusion to the long-running dispute over post-Brexit permits.
A further seven boats could also be granted access on Monday as EU and UK experts draw a close to a month-long period of intensive negotiations.
But French trawlermen were expecting more than 100 permits to be issued in the final stretch of the wrangling.
Industry sources said they had been “betrayed” by the UK and “abandoned by the European Commission”.
They accused Brussels of capitulating in the negotiations, “despite its promise to get tougher”. The French government has also seemingly dropped its threat to pursue legal action through the EU against Britain.
In a bid to reopen the talks, the French fishing industry will repeat its campaign to “disturb British interests” by hitting goods being shipped between Calais and Dover.