EU will not ‘accept their own logic’ over ‘fisheries’

Michael Gove has blasted Brussels for not accepting “their own logic” over access to British fishing waters, even though the UK is leaving the EU.

The Cabinet Minister provided an update on Monday over negotiations and the EU are making it difficult with the UK’s fishing, as they want the same rights as before Brexit.

Speaking in the Committee meeting Gove said, “This is one area where I think that the EU’s stance is particularly difficult and challenging.

“The EU quite rightly say to the UK, ‘Look, you’re leaving, and we respect that. You cannot have the same rights if you do not have the same obligations, outside the EU as inside the EU’ and we accept that.

“We accept that the nature of our economic relationship will change.

“We’ll have a free trade agreement, won’t be members of the single market.

“But the EU don’t appear to accept their own logic when it comes to fisheries.

“They want to continue to have more or less the same access, they particularly want to maintain what’s called the relative stability mechanism, which governs access to our waters on the basis of out of date, historical patterns of fishing.

“Our view is when we leave, we’ll be an independent coastal state like Norway or Iceland or the Faroes.

“And therefore, access to our waters should be negotiated on an annual basis in the way it is with those countries.”