UK WILL BE A FULLY INDEPENDENT COASTAL STATE ACCORDING TO PM

The UK will be a fully independent coastal state according to Prime Minister Theresa May. She  has told the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) that in 2020 the UK will negotiate as a fully independent state for fishing opportunities in 2021, as Norway does.

The SFF had written to the Prime Minister to seek clarity on her Brexit agreement, which still has to be approved by the UK.

In her letter, Mrs May states: “The Political Declaration makes clear our intention is to have concluded a Fisheries Agreement with the EU by 1 July 2020. It has always been the EU’s position that there should be a link between access to waters and access to markets as part of these arrangements – but they failed to achieve this in both the Political Declaration and the Withdrawal Agreement.

“It remains our resolute position that there should be no such link. If we cannot reach a fair agreement by the end of 2020 then the default is that EU vessels would have no access to waters, so they have a strong incentive to reach one.

“The UK’s position remains that the Fisheries Agreement will set a framework to manage annual negotiations on access to waters and fishing opportunities, consistent with other coastal states who share stocks with the EU, such as Norway.

“Under these arrangements, the UK would negotiate access to waters and fishing opportunities for 2021 and subsequent years bilaterally with the EU, as third country and independent coastal state. This will allow us to secure a fair share of fishing opportunities for UK fishermen, including Scottish fishermen. It will be a radical departure from the unfairness of the CFP.

She added: “In the unlikely event that we are not ready to enter the future relationship by the beginning of 2021 then the UK would face a sovereign choice. We could either seek to extend the implementation period or we could enter into the backstop arrangements which make clear the UK would have left the CFP. I know and respect your position, and that of the fishing industry, is that in any situation that saw the UK in the CFP beyond 2020 would be unacceptable.”