Fishing row between France, UK far from over: Minister - AA

Tough negotiations and threats of retaliation have yielded a few additional licenses for French fishers, but their dispute with the UK is far from over, France’s junior minister for European Affairs said Monday.  

In an interview with CNews television, Clement Beaune said Britain had issued 23 new licenses on Dec. 11, a day after the deadline set by France to resolve the ongoing fishing dispute.

“Our firmness unblocked the negotiations. We have obtained 93% of the licenses today. We will define with the fishermen the last kilometer of these negotiations,” he said.

Beaune added that the government was still awaiting “a few dozen” licenses and “will not let down any of these fishermen."