Advertisement

French minister Beaune: running out of patience with UK on Brexit/fishing situation

PARIS (Reuters) - French European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune said on Thursday that he was running out of patience with the UK regarding resolving post-Brexit fishing rights between the UK and France, as diplomatic tensions between the two countries simmer.

"We are at the end of our patience. We are continuing our fight," Beaune told a French parliamentary hearing, while adding that Britain's position over the situation was "unsportsmanlike."

French vessels want to keep fishing in the waters off the English Channel Islands, but a dispute over the licences earlier this year led both France and Britain to send patrol vessels off the shores of Jersey - a self-governing British Crown Dependency.

Beaune's criticism came a day after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told France to get a grip and give allies in the United States and Australia a break over a row about a trilateral nuclear submarine deal that tore up a separate French contract.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten)

Watch: 10 ways to Brexit proof your finances