Comments by "Nigel Johnson" (@nigeljohnson9820) on "Michel Barnier warns UK: EU will not conclude post-Brexit trade deal 'at any price'" video.

@dirkgonthier101 now that the UK has left the EU, fishing quotas are no longer relevant, as the EU has zero control of fishing quotas in UK waters. In other words EU quotas no longer exist in UK waters, so it is questionable what the Dutch have purchased. Such an agreement must be nul avoid after the transition period.
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@peabase it can also be argued that the EU market for fish is dependent on access to UK fish.
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@peabase far from it, the UK fleet will be required to supply the UK market. Thanks to the EU, the size of the UK fleet has been reduced to the point where it more closely matches this requirement. Cutting EU boats out of UK waters will allow our fish stocks to recover. What gives the EU the right to poach UK fish? They are a UK resource, equivalent to French fruit or German minerals. Should we send farmers to pick French fruit for free, or miners to dig for German minerals? There is no difference. The UK coastal waters is a means of UK production and the fish are the product. EU boats fishing in UK waters would be guilty of theft.
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The UK is not going to let the EU "supervision" it. The EU made a serous error by insisting that the document setting future trade intentions was not legally binding. Now it say the UK is backsliding on this agreement, will there is nothing to stop the UK tearing it up or just ignoring whatever bits it does not like. The UK would be mad to agree to any fishing deal before all other matters are sorted, as this seem the main concern of the EU. The UK certainly should not give away control of UK coastal waters in some permanent treaty. The best the EU can hope for is limited access controlled by UK fishing licence. This would have restrictions on catch sizes and boat and net sizes under UK government control only.
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@peabase we can always mine the waters or arrest EU fishing boats and sell them off for scrap.
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@peabase they are welcome to try. But you should be warned that you cannot use past precedence of access as a legal justification. I think you will find many countries object. There is no question that UK coastal waters belong to the UK under international law. Following your argument UK fishing boats will continue to have access to EU waters no matter what the EU has to say on the matter. You can also not judge how UK waters will be fished post Brexit. If the EU wants UK fish it must buy them from the UK fishing fleet. As I said before, do you expect UK farmers to have free access to French fields or do you expect the produce to be purchased by the UK. As to bing a violent type, I suggest you examine the actions of French fishermen, who have threatened to burn UK boats. The French may not be so keen to fish in UK waters if they risk the loss of their boats.
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@dirkgonthier101 you have not explained how something that no longer exists can still be the subject of a contract. Had the Dutch bought the fish, then they would still have the rights to them, but if they bought the EU quota, then that does not exist after the UK leaves the EU. They might have a case to receive a portion of the contract price back, but I doubt if they have any on going rights to the fish. It very much depends how the contract was written.
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@dirkgonthier101 it clearly matters to you or you not have posted a reply. The UK is fighting to regain its independence of the EU parasite. If you think the Dutch economy will not be affected, good for you. Brexit is just the tip of the EU's iceberg of trouble. The Dutch are net contributers to the EU budget, it will be interesting to see how much EU membership is now going to cost you.
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@dirkgonthier101 I do not need your sympathy, but you have mine and my pity, as you are still in the EU. Soon to be a very poor chap. I would have thought you would have had enough of being controlled by the Germans, seems not.
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@simoncolombo6640 I doubt that has any validity now. It would have been far easier if the UK had not made RAF food drops to the Dutch during German occupation, after all they could always have eaten UK fish. If only the Germans had known that all it needed to do was run the EU to gain control of the Dutch.
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@dirkgonthier101 I doubt it. The quota scheme no longer applies to the UK, so the Dutch company has purchased a quota that no longer exists. I do not know how long the Dutch contract lasts, but if it is longer than the transition period, it will be worthless unless it has a specific reference to post Brexit arrangements.
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@dirkgonthier101 no, but they do depend on the subject of the contract still being in existence. They did not buy the fish they bought the EU quota, that no longer exists.
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@dirkgonthier101 No!
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@simoncolombo6640 no that is not the point. UK fish stocks are a UK resource, just like minerals in the German soil or fruit on French farms. Taking UK fish without paying for it is theft. The same as if UK farms picked French fruit without paying for it, shipped back to the UK for sale in our shops. The EU attitude is : what is yours is mine, what is mine is mine. Now we are out of the EU, that is no longer the case.
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@grousetheghoul2754 i agree, however a lot is talked about the relative value between the financial sector and the fishing industry, with the former supposedly worth much more to the UK economy, but this misses the point that UK coastal waters are a fixed asset, where the financial sector can easily move and has already been show to also cost the country a huge amount of money.
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@TorianTammas if you are willing to buy fish from other countries than why not from the UK. The point is that you are willing to buy fish, not steal them.
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@TorianTammas we are not forcing you to buy UK fish, we are just stopping you from stealing it. I am happy for the fish to remain in the sea.
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@TorianTammas with the few boats remaining and no fish coming from the EU, I think the UK boats will be busy supplying the UK market. Your argument makes no sense. Why should we allow our fish to be stolen, just to gain access to the EU market?
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@simoncolombo6640 accept when it is applied to the EU, and particularly the French. There is a difference between fishing grounds in coastal waters. Ask the Icelandic government.
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@spacefx1340 I know he is Dutch, my point was that the French fishermen have threatened to burn UK fishing boats. The Dutch are far too laid back to resort to such violence. What he is actually defending is a questionable cartel involving a very few family run companies, whose business model is begining to attracting the interest of the authorities, according to published reports.
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