Brexit eel wars: Brussels accuses Britain of being too green
Brexit eel wars: Brussels accuses Britain of being too green
Snakey fish fight is center stage as U.K.’s new environmental measures rub the EU the wrong way.
Snakey fish fight is center stage as U.K.’s new environmental measures rub the EU the wrong way.
When the U.K. left the EU, Brussels insisted on strict “level playing-field” rules as a check on Tories turning their country into a deregulated offshore tax haven.
But fast-forward to 2024 and it's tougher new U.K. environmental measures that are increasingly rubbing the EU up the wrong way — at least when it comes to protecting sea-life.
In March, irate French ministers asked the European Commission to investigate whether a ban on “bottom trawling” in protected marine areas — brought in on conservation grounds — breached the terms of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) between the two countries.
I fully support a ban on bottom trawling. It's a super destructive form of fishing and should never have been allowed in the first place.
I would also like it completely banned. This sounds like it's only specific areas, which is something like progress but still more to do.
It also sounds like a bdsm thing
It feels weird to frame this as an EU objection considering that Greece has also put the same kind of ban in place. It's specifically France objecting.
But for other Brexiteers, the policies help illustrate the flexibility the U.K. has outside the EU on matters which would have previously been subject to lengthy negotiation under the Commons Fisheries Policy — and which Brussels and member states are outright hostile to for their own reasons.
Brexit benefits! We could never have done this as EU members without a whole load of negotiations, please ignore that we're still dealing with a whole load of negotiations over it and also that EU member Greece did it on a larger scale than us!
Don't let pesky things like facts ruin a perfectly fine feel good piece to make gammon feel a bit chuffed with themselves.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
In March, irate French ministers asked the European Commission to investigate whether a ban on “bottom trawling” in protected marine areas — brought in on conservation grounds — breached the terms of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) between the two countries.
“Healthy sand-eel stocks are not just vital for the delicate balance of our marine ecosystems, but also for the livelihoods of our fishers,” he argued, noting that other measures are already in place to protect the species, such as low catch quotas and closed areas.
She noted that 62 percent of seabird species were in decline across the U.K., adding: “While some EU countries seem hell-bent on hoovering up sand-eels on an industrial scale to feed to livestock, we believe they should be restoring marine ecosystems and nourishing baby Pufflings.”
“We are able to take these steps because of our exit from the EU, using our Brexit freedoms to make space for nature to recover across our marine habitats," one Conservative official granted anonymity to discuss the ongoing dispute said.
Despite having "taken back control" the U.K.'s rivers, city air, and drafty housing stock are in a sorry state, with embarrassingly little action on plastic pollution, "forever chemicals", and replacing the Common Agricultural Policy, he says.
"The government’s enthusiasm for fixing any of these problems appears to have been substantially weakened by removing the EU’s institutions from the discussion but retaining all of the corporate lobbyists, as the gap between European and British standards gradually widens."
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