Cabinet divided over Brexit transition deal as Michael Gove says we should be free from fishing laws as soon as we quit EU
Environment Secretary pressures Theresa May to repatriate fishing policy at the end of Article 50
A NEW CABINET split has emerged over the Brexit transition deal as Michael Gove is pushing for the UK to be free from fishing laws as soon as we quit the EU.
The Environment Secretary has put pressure on Theresa May to repatriate fishing policy at the end of the Article 50 countdown – and not wait until the implementation period is finished.
But Brussels has warned this could harm prospects of Britain achieving a smooth exit, saying it would “depart from the logic and the letter” of the Prime Minister’s Florence speech last month.
Senior figures have claimed it was a “non-starter from the side of the EU”, and would be opposed by some countries with powerful fishing lobbies like Spain.
Mrs May had tried to reset the deadlocked negotiations by offering to agree to a transition agreement where policy trade policy would remain the same for another two years after we leave in March 2019.
Mr Gove is arguing however that it would be ludicrous to allow the EU to set fishing quotas while Britain no longer had a say on how much could be fished.
As a member of the bloc we are bound by the common fisheries policy (CFP), which divides up how much of each stock could be caught within all European waters and set across the national fleets.
It has been blamed by critics for the long-term decline of the British fishing industry, and is alleged to give European fleets unfair access to our waters.
If the UK pulled out of the CFP it would regain the ability to control all fishing within 200 miles of the coast.
And Mr Gove is understood to favour a new system which would see the Government grant licences for EU and Norwegian vessels to fish in its waters and be then negotiate the overall quotas.
The is reporting that he has support from some Remain supporters in the Cabinet who argue ditching the CFP would be a concrete “win” for the Government in the negotiations.
And Government sources suggested Europe’s hard line stance might ease, telling the newspaper: “You have to take everything they say with scepticism because this is a negotiation.
“It is hard for them to argue that we need to remain part of the CFP but with no say on how quotas are divided up. That is simply not tenable.”
But pro-EU supporters say outside the CFP tariffs would be imposed by the EU upon fish caught by British boats and could harm the industry.
