EU member states demand Theresa May grants their boats access to UK fishing waters to prevent a hard border on Ireland 

EUROPEAN countries are demanding Theresa May grants their fishing boats access to our waters in return for a UK-wide solution to the Irish border.

Member states have said they do not want to give Britain a tariff-free customs deal unless they get guarantees over rights for their trawlermen.

And they fear accepting such terms in the Withdrawal Agreement would cost them a vital bargaining chip in later trade negotiations.

Theresa May wants to secure a UK-wide Customs Union as part of the backstop plan to prevent a hard border from re-emerging on the island of Ireland.

She has turned to that solution after eurocrats’ original plan, which would carve Northern Ireland away from Great Britain, was rejected by the DUP.

But now it has emerged France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium and Germany are spearheading the charge to resist the PM’s demands.

Eurocrats have insisted that “access to waters will remain a priority” for EU countries in the talks.

Brussels has enraged Brexiteers by demanding that continued access for EU vessels to UK fishing waters is part of a future free trade deal.

The bloc’s guidelines state: “In the overall context of the FTA, existing reciprocal access to fishing waters and resources should be maintained.”

Each member state parliament will get a veto on the final trade deal with Britain, meaning MPs from coastal EU states could block it over fishing.

Anand Menon, from the UK in a Changing Europe think tank, warned the issue “might get in the way for the withdrawal deal yet”.

He said: “At best it’s a warning about what awaits us. At worst it’s something that might get in the way during this negotiation itself.”