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Jan. 21, 2021 10:28 GMT
With many in the sector still reeling from an abrupt U-turn from the UK government on fisheries access at the tail-end of 2020, sector chiefs have expressed pessimism on the likelihood of taking full control of the UK s waters at the end of the five-and-a-half-year adjustment period in 2026.
Speaking at the Westminster Food & Nutrition seminar, Barrie Deas, CEO of the National Federation of Fisherman s Organisations, expressed the question of what happens beyond 2026 as a moot point . There are optimists that say that at that point, access and quota shares will be subject to annual negotiations. And in that sense, the UK can utilize its leverage on access to secure better quota shares, Deas told listeners [.]
Quick Read By Shafi Musaddique Correspondent
After five years of intense debate, Britain is now finally, fully, out of the European Union. But its departure, when it happened on Jan. 1
st
, turned out to be something of an anticlimax.
That’s because the COVID-19 pandemic, and the government’s draconian lockdown response, have knocked everything else off the front pages and out of peoples’ minds. And with the implications of London’s new trade deal with the EU only starting to emerge, it is hard for most voters to judge it yet.
Why We Wrote This
Britain’s most momentous political move for generations took effect this month, but nobody paid much attention. Years of exhausting debate about Brexit, and the COVID-19 crisis, sapped the nation’s interest.
Hastings fishing boats on the beach from John Gotts. SUS-190404-145254001
On Christmas Eve, our local MP, Sally Ann Hart welcomed the new trade deal with the EU and stated that we have struck a good deal on fisheries. In particular, “that at the end of the five year transition period, we will have full control of our waters and that the 0-12 nautical miles of fishing waters off our coastline will no longer permit foreign vessels access. These 12 miles off our coastline are for UK fishing vessels only, which our local under-10 metre fishing boats make particular use of.”
Nigel Farage joined other prominent Brexiteers revelling in Britain’s exit from the EU, following an historic deal reached between London and Brussels on Thursday. The former Brexit Party leader, who proved instrumental in Britain’s momentous 2016 vote to leave the bloc, claimed the deal meant “victory” for “ordinary men and women”. Ambassadors from the EU's 27 nations convened on Christmas Day to start assessing the free trade deal, which takes.
Boris Johnson said the deal gave Britain ‘the foundation for a really prosperous new relationship’. Photograph: WPA/Getty Images
Britain is heading into a new chapter in its relationship with the rest of Europe with Boris Johnson vowing to pit the country against the EU in a race for economic success.
After nine months of tortuous talks, a Brexit deal was secured at 1.44pm GMT on Christmas Eve, avoiding a no-deal exit from the transition period with just a week to go.
EU ambassadors will meet on Christmas day for a briefing from their chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, and are expected to take two or three days to analyse the agreement and decide on its provisional implementation.