The HoC library has published a report (HERE) on the future of fishing after December 2020 - assuming there's a transition period - and there is an interesting bit in the introduction about the position we are in. The EU wants to link a deal on fishing rights and access to UK waters by EU vessels to a zero tariff trade deal for UK fishermen accessing the EU single market. Sounds reasonable doesn't it? But this is what the report says:
As part of the Draft Withdrawal Agreement UK and EU have agreed there will be a transition or implementation period which will last from 30 March 2019 to 31 December 2020, during which the UK and EU have agreed that the UK will continue comply with the Common Fisheries Policy.
Beyond the transition period, the maintenance of current arrangements for sharing fisheries resources after Brexit was referred to in the European Council’s draft negotiating guidelines for a future trade deal. This linked continued existing reciprocal access to fisheries to the proposal for a zero-tariff trade agreement. However, the UK Government’s Fisheries White Paper rejected the EU’s position that access to fisheries should be linked to any trade agreement, referring to the latter as “a separate question”. There have been no detailed discussions to date between the UK and the EU on fisheries.
No wonder our fishermen are worried. I guarantee when push comes to shove their interests will be thrown overboard. If the UK government needs to grant access by EU vessels to get a trade deal they're going to do it aren't they? Fishing is a fraction of the UK economy and will never be huge, regardless of what happens after Brexit. Is the government going to favour this tiny industry over, say, car manufacturing or financial services? I wouldn't have thought so myself.
In this connection, Shanker Singham, formerly of The Legatum Institute and now at the IEA, is pontificating about fishing policy (HERE) and says:
"On negotiations with the EU, any Free Trade Agreement should include a fisheries chapter covering mutual recognition of standards, as well as other provisions such as on import controls. To strengthen the UK’s hand, negotiating bilateral agreements with regional partners should be prioritized".
Like Owen Paterson (HERE) he has big ideas for our post Brexit fishing policy. Note Singham has a touching belief in Mutual Recognition of Standards which I guarantee will never fly. But where Paterson wanted Flexible Catch Composition Singham wants Transferable Quotas allocated via auction:
"Domestically, the UK should move away from the incumbent favouring Fixed Quota Allocation system and towards a system of transferable quotas allocated via auction to ensure better competition. Risk pools or quota bundles should also be introduced to avoid the problem of discards in mixed fisheries. The Government should also examine the possibility of a properly controlled days-at-sea trial that could give better opportunity to smaller vessels".
They couldn't agree on a common plan for Brexit, now they can't agree on a fishing policy. It's all going terribly well isn't it?
In this connection, Shanker Singham, formerly of The Legatum Institute and now at the IEA, is pontificating about fishing policy (HERE) and says:
"On negotiations with the EU, any Free Trade Agreement should include a fisheries chapter covering mutual recognition of standards, as well as other provisions such as on import controls. To strengthen the UK’s hand, negotiating bilateral agreements with regional partners should be prioritized".
Like Owen Paterson (HERE) he has big ideas for our post Brexit fishing policy. Note Singham has a touching belief in Mutual Recognition of Standards which I guarantee will never fly. But where Paterson wanted Flexible Catch Composition Singham wants Transferable Quotas allocated via auction:
"Domestically, the UK should move away from the incumbent favouring Fixed Quota Allocation system and towards a system of transferable quotas allocated via auction to ensure better competition. Risk pools or quota bundles should also be introduced to avoid the problem of discards in mixed fisheries. The Government should also examine the possibility of a properly controlled days-at-sea trial that could give better opportunity to smaller vessels".
They couldn't agree on a common plan for Brexit, now they can't agree on a fishing policy. It's all going terribly well isn't it?
