The prime minister has been told to keep hold of sovereignty over Britain’s fishing waters as he seeks to rebuild ties with the bloc, with EU leaders eyeing access to UK waters as a priority in negotiations.
Ms Macdonald added: “We must not have a repeat of 1973 when the condition of entry to the EEC was that our richly endowed fishing waters be pooled with other members, or of 2020 when the Brexit agreement, while restoring the UK to the status of sovereign coastal state, granted continued access to our waters to EU vessels to catch far more fish in our waters than they catch in their own.”.
She pointed to figures showing the EU catches around seven times more fish by value in British waters than the UK catches in EU waters, adding that “reciprocal access is heavily loaded in the EU’s favour”.
EU leaders, including France, Denmark and the Netherlands, which catch the most fish in UK waters, will push for Britain to maintain the status quo on access for European boats to British waters before offering any major concessions on trade in return.
She called for annual negotiations on fishing quotas, not a long-term access agreement, and said Sir Keir should insist on Brussels paying for any long-term access to UK waters.
