LONDON — The British government has rejected an EU plan to tie talks on fishing rights to other topics in Keir Starmer’s EU reset — including a defense and security pact.
Speaking on Tuesday, U.K. Fishing Minister Daniel Zeichner told a parliamentary committee there would be “no linkage” between fishing negotiations and talks in other areas like security or reduced border checks for goods.
EU governments have hinted that agreement on fishing is their price to give ground on Keir Starmer’s own priorities and say the issues should be dealt with as a package.
Member states like France are worried that they could lose lucrative fishing rights in British waters when the current maritime agreement expires in June 2026. They want to move to more permanent access arrangements.
