ROUEN, France (Reuters) – A British fishing trawler impounded by French authorities is the unjustified casualty of a wider political battle between Paris and London over post-Brexit fishing guidelines, a lawyer for the vessel’s captain mentioned on Wednesday.
A courtroom within the north-western French metropolis of Rouen is deciding whether or not the Irish captain, Jondy Ward, ought to pay a 150,000 euro ($174,000) deposit to have the boat launched after French authorities mentioned he was fishing in French waters with no correct licence.
“He’s clearly in the course of a political recreation,” the lawyer, Mathieu Croix, mentioned exterior the courtroom.
He mentioned the deposit being sought by France was out of proportion to the worth of the cargo of scallops on board the Cornelis Gert Jan when it was seized final week, which he estimated at round 5,000 euros.
‘COMPLETELY DISPROPORTIONATE’
He mentioned the quantity had been inflated with a view to “make an impression” given the dispute over fishing licences since Britain pulled out of the European Union.
“It has taken on one other dimension within the present context that has taken on a totally disproportionate which means,” mentioned the lawyer.
The deposit would enable the vessel to go free pending a courtroom case subsequent 12 months. The Rouen courtroom will resolve in a while Wednesday whether or not the deposit ought to stand. Scottish firm Macduff Shellfish, which used the boat, has mentioned it did have the suitable licences.
France and Britain this week got here to the brink of a cross-Channel commerce struggle, with Paris alleging Britain was denying fishing licenses to French trawlers they have been entitled to below a post-Brexit deal.
Britain mentioned it was honouring the deal, and accused France of blowing the affair out of proportion. Paris had threatened to step up checks on vans and produce arriving from Britain, and to bar British trawlers docking in French ports.
However France pulled again on the final minute and now says it is going to make a recent try to barter an answer with Britain.
($1 = 0.8632 euros)
(Reporting by Layli Foroudi; Writing by Christian Lowe; Enhancing by Andrew Cawthorne)
