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France warns UK it could veto bad Brexit deal

France could use its veto to block a post-Brexit deal with the United Kingdom if it does not meet Paris' demands, especially on fishing, Europe Minister Clement Beaune warned on Friday.

Published: 4 December 2020 09:01 CET

France warns UK it could veto bad Brexit deal

Europe Minister Clement Beaune with President Emmanuel Macron. AFP

“If there's a deal that isn't a good one, we'd oppose it,” Beaune told Europe 1 radio, adding that “every country has the right to veto” whatever emerges from the last-ditch Brexit talks going on in London.

“We have to prepare for a risk of no deal but this is not what we want,” Beaune said.

“I still hope that we can have an agreement but we will not accept a bad deal for France. If there was an agreement and it was not good, we would oppose it with a right of veto.”

#Brexit | Irlande et France totalement unies dans la défense des intérêts européens, notamment ceux de nos pêcheurs – avec le ministre des affaires étrangères @simoncoveney ??????

Ireland & France fully aligned to defend EU interests – especially regarding fisheries pic.twitter.com/OnkaIszPrH

— Clement Beaune (@CBeaune) December 3, 2020

He said France would evaluate any accord itself, adding: “We owe it to the French and we owe it to the fishermen and the other economic sectors.”

Beaune warned that the risk of a no deal situation “exists” and that “we need to be prepared”.

“But I want to believe that we can have a deal and a good deal,” he said.

Negotiators on both sides are working day and night to agree on a deal in time to be ratified before December 31, when Britain will no longer be bound by EU single market rules under the terms of a post-Brexit transition.

But with the deadline looming, some of the EU's 27 member states — led by France and the Netherlands — fear the EU Commission is ready to give too many concessions, especially on fishing, to win a deal.

On a visit to northern France on Thursday, Prime Minister Jean Castex had said French fishing would not be “sacrificed” for the sake of a deal.

“We obviously hope to obtain an agreement under the best possible conditions, but not under any conditions,” Castex said.

Earlier this week the minister for Europe warned that French fishermen must not be sidelined in post-Brexit talks.

He said London and Brussels were “still very far from agreement” on the trade issues.

“Our fishermen are no less important than theirs and they didn't have the right to vote in the referendum,” European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune told reporters on a visit to Madrid.

He was referring to the weekend's last-ditch trade talks between Britain and the EU in London at which British foreign minister Dominic Raab said fishing rights remaining an “outstanding major bone of contention”.

“We are still very far from an agreement,” he said with just one month and a day left until the transition period ends and Britain leaves Europe's trade and customs area.

Should the parties fail to reach an agreement, trade would be switched to World Trade Organization terms, causing economic chaos with tariffs immediately imposed on goods and customs checks required at borders.

And Beaune ruled out the idea that “one country should law down the law”, he said, referring to Britain.

“There can be no agreement unless there is one that gives sustainable and wide-ranging access to British waters,” he insisted, echoing Raab in saying fishing rights was one of the main sticking points.

A no-deal scenario or “a bad fishing agreement” would have a knock-on effect on all fishing policies in Europe, and risk harming “a carefully-designed trade balance”.

“Our terms are known, they are not new,” he said, pledging to “try again” to reach a deal so French fishing business would knew where they stand on January 1.

“We have a bit of time left but still a long way to go and if the UK believes that (limited) time left works in its favour as it has in the past few years, that is not the case,” he warned.

Member comments

Anonymous - 4 December 2020 at 17:36 CET

“Our fishermen are no less important than theirs and they didn’t have the right to vote in the referendum,” European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune told reporters on a visit to Madrid.
And neither did we Brits, working and living in the EU, generally for the benefit of British companies. Nor did all the EU citizens living in the UK. Most of those of us with some knowledge of how the EU works were excluded and have had our lives turned upside down by ignorant Brits lied to by Boris Johnson.
Anonymous - 7 December 2020 at 16:48 CET

I think upside down is putting it very mildly. I would express it differently but would probably be censored.

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INTERVIEW: 'A lot of people think Brexit is done, but it's not for Brits in Europe'

In the early days of 2021, after the United Kingdom had left the EU and completed the final stage of Brexit, many British citizens returned to their home countries in Europe only to face a grilling at the border.

Though the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) technically guaranteed their right to live and work in the countries they’d settled in before Brexit, there was widespread confusion about these fundamental rights and many were treated like new arrivals.

Over time, the chaos at the airports subsided as border officials and airlines were given clearer guidance on the treatment of Brits. But three years later, a number of Brits who live on the continent still face problems when it comes to proving their post-Brexit rights.

This was the reason campaign group British in Europe decided to set up their new EU-funded ICE project. Starting this year in March, it aims to build valuable connections between UK citizens abroad and mentor the next generation of civil rights advocates around the continent. The acronym stands for ‘Inform, Empower, Connect’ and the project’s organisers describe it as “the first project of its kind”.

“It’s a completely innovative project – especially the fact that it’s across so many countries,” Jane Golding, chair of British in Europe and one of the project’s founders, told The Local.

Bringing together groups from 11 EU member states, the project aims to train up volunteers to understand both the Withdrawal Agreement and EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, as well as learning skills like advocacy and communication, using real-life civil rights cases that are referred to British in Europe.

“The ultimate goal is to amplify the messages across the wider group,” said Golding. “You start with the volunteers, they go back to their groups, then the people that we train, they go back and train people. Then they pass on that knowledge to the wider groups, on their Facebook accounts and through social media, and hopefully it all snowballs, not just in their countries but across the EU.”

‘Far-reaching repercussions’

So many years after Brexit, it’s hard to believe that there’s still a need for a project like ICE that empowers Brits to protect their rights. Indeed, the future of groups like British in Europe and regional groups like British in Germany and Spain-based group EuroCitizens felt uncertain just a year or two ago.

But Golding says there are still serious issues cropping up for Brits in several countries around Europe – they just have a different quality to the problems that arose at the start.

“In some ways it’s needed even more because as we predicted right at the beginning, at the first stage of implementation, you’ve got the more routine cases,” she explained.

“What we’re seeing now is not as many cases, but when the cases come up, they’re complex. They can have such far-reaching repercussions on people’s lives. And of course, memories start to fade. A lot of people think Brexit is already done, but it’s not.”

Volunteers in British in Europe ICE project

The volunteers of the British in Europe ICE project pose for a photo at the kick-off meeting in Brussels on May 21st, 2024. Photo courtesy of British In Europe

Though the rights set out in the Withdrawal Agreement apply across the continent, different countries have taken different approaches to implementing them.

That means that while in Germany, for example, UK citizens simply had to declare that they lived in the country, people in neighbouring Denmark had to apply for their rights.

This led to a notorious situation in Denmark in which as many as 2,000 Brits were threatened with deportation after not applying in time or completing the right application process. According to Golding, this had a lot to do with the fact that people who arrived in 2020 weren’t given the same information as other UK migrants who arrived before.

In Sweden, meanwhile, the situation is still difficult for many Brits who lived there prior to Brexit.

“There have been issues with an anomalously high numbers of refusals compared to other countries, and they seem to be taking a very strict approach on late applications,” Golding explained.

Portugal has been another difficult case. Although the country opted for a declaratory system where Brits could simply exchange old residence documents for a new ID card after Brexit, reports suggest that the authorities have taken years to issue these cards, leaving many of the some 34,000 Brits in the country in limbo.

“While people are still waiting to have their status confirmed and have their card in their hand, it’s difficult to access a whole range of services, like health services, or applying for jobs or dealing with the authorities, or even going to the bank,” Golding said. “All of these problems just affect people’s lives.”

A French border guard checks a passport at the border

A French border guard checks a passport at the border. Photo by DENIS CHARLET / AFP

There are also concerns about the EU’s new exit and entry system (EES), due to come into force in October, which is based on biometric documentation.

“We still do not have clear data on how many people in declaratory countries like Germany, where it wasn’t compulsory to apply for the card, don’t actually have a card,” Golding said. “How is that going to play out if it’s a document-based digitalised system?”

A lack of support

In the immediate aftermath of Brexit, funding from the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) was still available to support NGOs in Europe helping Brits with their migration and civil rights issues. But that temporary funding soon expired, leaving groups like British in Europe largely on their own.

“The whole point is people’s lives change at very different paces,” Golding said. “And now this project is really going to start to pick up some of those cases and report on those issues, which is really crucial and exciting for the precedent that it sets, and it’s very clearly necessary still, because people don’t just sort their lives in the 18 months that the FCDO chose to supply that funding.”

This feeling of being left alone and increasingly isolated from the UK is one that many Brits in Europe have felt in the aftermath of Brexit. But the upcoming UK election on July 4th could be a game-changer.

This time, following a change in the law, Brits who have lived abroad for more than 15 years will be able to vote for the first time.

Polling station in the UK

A polling station in the UK. Photo by Elliott Stallion on Unsplash

When it comes to the election, the message from British in Europe is clear: “Make your voice count now, make your vote count, make sure you use it,” Golding said.

With the June 18th registration deadline fast approaching, BiE is advising UK citizens abroad to apply for a proxy vote as soon as possible, rather than relying on a postal vote from abroad. Since the 15-year rule was abolished on January 16th, more than 100,000 British citizens have registered to vote, according to official statistics. It is unclear how many were registered before the change in the law.

With an estimated 4.7 million Brits currently living abroad – 1.3 million of whom are in the EU – this could have a significant impact on the electoral landscape, Golding says. But most significantly, the change is creating a feeling of connection and belonging that wasn’t there before.

Nurturing this sense of belonging is one of the main goals of ICE.

With these bridges being built, British in Europe hopes to create a network of support that spans across borders.

“Now we’ve met. We’re going to meet,” said Golding. “We know we’re going to meet again in Berlin in October and then we’ll meet again in the new year in 2025 as well. It means a huge amount because even British in Europe, our steering team, we’ve only met physically three times.”

This opens up the possibility of people sharing their knowledge from country to country, Golding explained.

“There is crossover and the reassurance of having that EU wide view and knowing that you’re not alone and knowing that in this country, we managed to get this solution,” she said. “And then you can go back and say to the authorities in your country, well, in that country they did that – all of that helps. It’s really good.”

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