Disproportionate

Jersey and London have described as "disproportionate" France's threat to cut off power to the Channel Island over post-Brexit fishing conditions.

The French government has warned that it could take retaliatory measures over new conditions imposed on French fishermen regarding access to waters around the island of Jersey — a self-governing dependency of the British Crown — which is closer to France than the UK.

Speaking to Parliament on Tuesday, French Minister for the Sea, Annick Girardin, alluded that such measures could involve the "submarine cable transmission of electricity" that supplies the island from France.

She had previously said that the government considers the new requirements for fishing around Jersey — on fishing zones, the number of days fishermen can spend in these waters and what gear they're allowed to fish with — "null and void".

The latest row erupted last Friday after Jersey published a list of 41 vessels equipped with Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) and authorised to fish in Jersey's waters since Saturday.

This list is accompanied by new requirements "which have not been agreed, discussed or notified beforehand," the French Ministry of the Sea said then.

"We consider that if new requirements for sea areas or fishing gear are integrated into the licences, even though they have not been notified to the European Commission, they are null and void," the ministry added.

A spokesperson for the British government said on Wednesday afternoon that the threat is "unacceptable and disproportionate" and the UK "trusts France to use the mechanisms" provided for in the post-Brexit agreement "to resolve the issues."

Jersey's external affairs minister, Senator Ian Gorst told the BBC earlier in the day that it "is not the first threat that the French have made to either Jersey or the United Kingdom since we are into this new deal."

"It would seem disproportionate to cut off electricity for the sake of needing to provide extra details so that we can refine the licenses," he added.

In a statement, the island's government had confirmed receiving complaints about the conditions from Normandy, France and the EU. "Such complaints are taken very seriously, and the Government will respond in full."

"The Government remains committed to the sustainable management of Jersey waters for the benefit of this and future generations," it went on.

Girardin said earlier in the week that negotiations were ongoing to obtain more fishing licences while a European Commission spokesperson had stressed that "any conditions" had to be notified with sufficient notice for the other party to "comment or adapt".

"Furthermore, such conditions cannot discriminate against our fishermen," they said, confirming that the Commission would contact the UK authorities on "any specific issue" related to this.

The regional fisheries committees of Brittany and Normandy have meanwhile expressed their "anger and incomprehension" over the British conditions in a joint statement.

They said that they "do not recognise" them because they "are in total violation of the provisions of the Treaty".

"We therefore call for a suspension of all economic relations with Jersey, including the ferry link," it added.

Fishermen in Normandy, who gathered in Cherbourg and Granville on Monday to protest the new British conditions, have also called for retaliatory measures.

"It is obvious that there will be responses to the aggression we have been subjected to by the Jersey authorities in relation to fishing authorisations. We hope that the state will take retaliatory measures," Dimitri Rogoff, president of the Normandy regional fisheries committee, said.

AND ANOTHER The European Commission wants to have a greater say on the acquisitions and subsidies made by foreign governments inside the EU's single market.

The move comes as countries like China and India extend their economic reach in the bloc, take over European companies and distort competition through generous use of state aid.

Around 3% of European companies are owned or controlled by non-EU investors, according to a 2016 analysis. However, this small percentage represents entities controlling more 35% of total assets and responsible for 16 million jobs.

For the last 60 years, the European Union has had strong rules in place to scrutinise state aid but they only apply to financial contributions granted by EU governments. This presents an opportunity for non-EU countries to freely enter the single market and inject subsidies, such as zero-interest loans, unlimited guarantees, preferential tax treatments and direct grants.

As a result, the companies that benefit from these special arrangements enjoy a stronger position to acquire European firms and win public contracts in calls for tenders. The EU's public procurement market is one of the largest in the world, worth over €2.4 trillion.

The Commission believes this advantageous position and lack of surveillance leads to unfair competition and undermines the single market's integrity.

"Europe is a trade and investment superpower. In 2019, more than 7 trillion euros of foreign direct investments flowed into the EU. Openness of the single market is our biggest asset. But openness requires fairness," said Commission Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, who is in charge of competition policy.

Vestager's team monitors and green-lights state aid programmes proposed by member states, which have significantly intensified during the coronavirus pandemic.

For example, earlier this month, the Commission approved a €400 million Danish aid scheme to support production of renewable energy. The competition departments also surveys takeovers and merges. In 2019, Vestager vetoed Siemens' high-profile bid to acquire Alstom, a deal that was supposed to create a European rail champion.

Until now, the executive lacked similar powers to oversee the activities of non-EU governments. The Commission is moving decisively to close this loophole and has put forward a new regulation to empower itself.

According to Vestager, the regulation will make the EU the first trading bloc with tools against harmful subsides coming from both inside and outside its own market. The law will apply to every economic sector and examine state aid coming from all non-EU countries.