London mitigates new threats after Paris warnings

LONDON (Reuters) – The European Union (EU) has been threatening threats in the first place, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson lamented on Thursday, citing Paris’ blockade on the implementation of a memorandum of understanding on UK trade access to financial markets.

Several Reuters sources said on Wednesday that Paris had threatened to delay the implementation of financial service arrangements negotiated to put pressure on Britain to respect its fisheries commitment.

The European Commission and the government of Boris Johnson reached a Memorandum of Understanding on Financial Services at the end of March, which stipulates that regulators in the EU and Great Britain share their information. But the protocol must be ratified by 27 member states, which have not yet been launched.

France, which has made a connection between the two cases, at the same time condemns the new conditions for French fishermen to have access to areas beyond the Channel Islands, independent of the British Crown.

“Our approach to licensing European access (…) is consistent and based on evidence,” said spokeswoman Boris Johnson.

“Again, the EU poses threats with little inconvenience rather than seeking the means of our new agreement to resolve the issues,” he said.

(Elizabeth Piper; French edition Nicholas Delem)