European fishing fleets could get a three-year transition period to prepare for Britain to have greater control of its waters post-Brexit, if a last-minute offer made in current trade negotiations helps to seal the deal.
The Guardian reports on the new negotiation paper from the UK, which includes concessions for EU coastal communities that fish in British waters to phase down their activities.
Following this, the UK has suggested that it and the EU would agree annually on percentages of fish stocks shared between their economic zones, and base quotas on these figures.
On the EU side, one diplomat says “it doesn’t look like fisheries will stand in the way of an agreement”. Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney also spoke positively of reaching a deal.
However, France is pushing to retain the status quo amid fears that failure to reach agreement on annual allowable catches could destroy the livelihoods of its own coastal fishing communities.
The Guardian has more on the story HERE.