Union versus British fisheries.
The end of 2020 is approaching and a deal is still not on the table. Yes, we are talking about Brexit. This topic coincidentally accompanied my first steps in the blogging world. It was a bit of a shock at the time when, against popular expectation, the British people decided by a slim majority to leave the EU. It really didn't occur to me when writing those first posts that after more than four years, it would not be known with certainty what form the UK's exit from the EU would take. A number of the terms of the break-up have already been negotiated and it is probably safe to say that little is missing to prevent the dreaded last minute hard Brexit. Still, there are obstacles that have deep historical roots and, not illogically, may go unsurmounted. The repeatedly discussed uncertainties have been concentrated more or less on trade issues, especially in an area relatively distant to us, the Czechs (but also to most EU countries), namely fishing. EU law specifies the conditions for fishing in British waters by making use of agreements created when Britain joined the European Communities, and gives other EU members, such as France or Denmark, significant rights in determining the territories and quotas used. The divorce with the EU offers Prime Minister Boris Johnson a unique opportunity to help British fishermen who have struggled for many years with continental competition. But the price paid for help could be high. Any change to decades (even centuries) of practice, backed by EU legal documents, will dramatically harm Scandinavian, Belgian, French and other fishermen. And not only them. Island seafood fishermen would also be in trouble. The result could even be a disagreement and the start of a tariff fight. Although the fishing industry is one of the less important sectors of the European Union economy, politically it is an important card that is being played, especially by the British side. Whether it is an instrument that Prime Minister Johnson is using to advance other, perhaps more important, British policy objectives will be known in the next few days.