The EU has confirmed it wants a short-term arrangement with the UK on fishing quotas in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
Karmenu Vella, the European commissioner for fisheries and maritime affairs, said he wanted to see that “the EU and the UK would decide to continue to give access to each other’s waters”. Otherwise, “the part of the EU fleet, which depends on access to UK waters” would risk “significant negative economic consequences” in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The EU has drawn up a regulation that would maintain fishing quotas for 2019.
While Brussels has insisted that no mini-deals would be allowed in a no-deal Brexit, it hopes to preserve some existing arrangements for the rest of the year, if the UK reciprocates, to ease the economic shock of the UK crashing out of the EU.