Brussels and the United Kingdom have reached an agreement on the right to fish for species distributed between the waters of the two sides, which marks the progress of the bilateral relationship before making progress in a wider area. Brexit There will be talks next week.

After months of negotiations, the two parties announced a fishing rights agreement on Wednesday night, and these negotiations have repeatedly been troubled by disputes over how to maximize fishing opportunities while meeting environmental goals.

The agreement sets fishing restrictions on more than 70 different types of fish that circulate between EU and British waters. The agreement mainly covers fishing rights for the remainder of 2021, and some fishing restrictions on deep-sea species are extended to 2022.

The negotiations are the first time that the two sides have held fisheries negotiations as two independent coastal powers after Brexit. For decades, Brussels has held similar annual talks with other neighboring countries such as Norway.

Such negotiations are usually held before the start of the calendar year to allow fishermen to determine the total amount of fish they can catch, but negotiations between the EU and the United Kingdom continued until this year because the two sides only reached an agreement. Broader future relationship transactions In the last few days of 2020.

Since then, the fishermen have operated under temporary arrangements, and the future relationship agreement has guaranteed mutual access to each other’s waters.

According to international law, both parties are obliged to negotiate on how to properly manage fish species in the waters of the two countries.

EU officials said the agreement was balanced, and Brussels managed to limit Britain’s efforts to transfer haddock and other fish fishing quotas from the resource-rich North Sea to waters off the west coast of Scotland — Brussels feared that this could eventually destroy fish populations. United Kingdom It does provide some additional flexibility for mackerel-a key priority.

Other flashpoints during the months of negotiations included the United Kingdom’s attempt to ban all fishing activities in British waters that form part of the North Sea’s Doge River-the United Kingdom believes that this is environmentally sound, but will be overwhelming for the European Union. influences. vessel.

George Eustis, the British Secretary of the Environment, admitted that the negotiations were “challenging.”

“Our goal throughout the fisheries negotiations is to protect the sustainability of our fish stocks and seek an agreement that respects our new status and serves the British fisheries,” he said.

Maximize fishing rights The interests of Scottish fishermen are the core objectives of the UK in the negotiations.

Mairi Gougeon, Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, said: “After months of uncertainty and destruction caused by Brexit, this agreement will provide clearer information on the fishing arrangements for 2021.

“However, the fact remains that Scotland has been removed from the European single market against our will. The European single market is seven times the size of the British market, and all the economic chaos and damage that followed.”

The agreement did not resolve the dispute between France and the United Kingdom over French fishing rights in the waters off Jersey. But EU officials said they hope that the outcome of the talks will encourage further positive changes in the relationship.

British and French Navy Have sent a boat Last month, the company patrolled the waters off Jersey after a stalemate in France’s complaint about attaching conditions to a fishing license.

Brexit Commissioner Maros Sevkovic He is scheduled to meet with his British colleague David Frost next Wednesday to participate in a high-level meeting on Brexit, where the recent fisheries tensions will be on the agenda.

EU Fisheries Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevi?ius said that Wednesday’s agreement is positive for the “sustainable use of our marine resources”.