Draft:UK–EU Fisheries Agreement Post-Brexit

When the United Kingdom voted for leaving the European Union in 2016, the withdrawal led to several unanswered questions regarding which legal frameworks would apply after the withdrawal. In the North Sea, where fishery had long been regulated under the EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), the British decision of Brexit now introduced significant uncertainty.

As the UK became an independent coastal state, it was no longer bound by the CFP, raising new challenges for access rights, quota allocations, and how to manage the fishery in a sustainable way.

This created the need for a bilateral fishing agreement between the UK and the EU, which was later included in the broader Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) signed in December 2020 .

Historic background

The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the fisheries policy of the European Union, which has existed in different formats since 1983 and works as the legal framework for fishing and aquaculture. The overall objective of the deal is, and was, to ensure that fishing and aquaculture activities are: "environmentally sustainable in the long term, are managed in a way consistent with achieving economic, social and employment benefits, and contribute to the availability of food supplies".

The CFP includes both a system of Total Allowable Catches (TACs) and national quotas, which determine how much of each fish species EU member states are allowed to catch, in an attempt to make fishing more sustainable. At the same time, the CFP granted access to fishing waters between member states, allowing EU vessels to fish in one another's Exclusive Economic Zone, typically up to 12 nautical miles from the coast.

During the time UK was still a member of the EU, it had a complicated relationship with the CFP. UK fishers especially were vocally about their dissatisfaction with specially the quota system, which in their eyes gave EU vessel an unfair advantage and a disproportionate access. Fishing itself was held up as an example upon what UK stood to gain if Brexit became a reality.

As the UK left the EU, it also left the CFP, and therefore became an independent coastal state under UNCLOS, the international law of the sea. This new status entered into force the 1. of January 2021. This required a new bilateral agreement with the EU to govern future access to waters and fish stocks in the North Sea and surrounding waters.

Negotiations post Brexit

Due to Brexit, the UK became an independent coastal state, which means that UK itself from that on will be fully responsible for managing fisheries in the UK's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). This is a zone which extends 200 nautical miles (nm) from shore.

The UK-EU negotiations focussed on the UK side on access rights and quota reallocation. The EU focussed on gaining access in UK waters for its fishing fleets, as fishing vessels from EU countries like the Netherlands, France and Denmark rely heavily on UK waters.

What's included in the deal?

The TCA entered into force in 2021. It introduced several different aspects, including a five-year transition period, during which EU fishing vessels retained access to the UK EEZ in the North Sea, even though quotas would be progressively adjusted in the favour of the UK.

The agreement covers 55 shared fish stocks, for which the EU's quota shares are gradually reduced between 2021 and 2025, giving the UK a bigger part. When the five-year transition period is over by the 30. June 2026, 25% of the EU's previous fishing rights in UK waters will have been transferred to the UK. Afterwards, the access to the UK part of the North Sea will be regulated in annual negotiations.

Because of the UK leaving the EU, both the EU and the UK work as a veto player in these annual negotiations. Therefore, it is included in the agreement that if either side denies access, sanctions such as tariffs may follow.

The Jersey Conflict

Main article: 2021 Jersey dispute

In May 2021, tensions between the UK and France happened due to differences in how the new TCA deal was interpreted. Around the island of Jersey, which is located in the English Channel, and is a British Crown Dependency, the new TCA agreement required EU vessels to provide evidence of historical fishing activity to obtain permits in Jersey waters. French authorities didn't agree with this, arguing that Jersey imposed additional conditions without proper consultation, prompting threats to cut off the island's electricity supply, which is largely provided via undersea cables from France.

In response to Frances's threat, two UK Royal Navy Patrol vessels arrived in the area as a precaution, while France sent to of its own maritime patrol ships. Although the standoff was real, and posed a diplomatic challenge these two countries in between, the standoff was handled through diplomatic channels.

Either way, this incident highlights, how the fragility of the new fisheries arrangements and the symbolic weight of fisheries hold in Brexit sovereignty debates.

The deal in a UK-EU perspective

Although fisheries are only accountable for a relatively small share of both the UK and EU economies, the sector held outsized political importance during and after Brexit, resulting in the TCA deal.

For the UK, even though regaining control over their own national EEZ became a symbol of restored sovereignty, it led to disappointment in the British fishing industry, where many stakeholders had expected more dramatic gains in quota shares and exclusive access. Reports from UK fishing associations described difficulties with new bureaucracy, delays, and market access issues.

On the EU side, the redistribution of quotas had uneven effects. Countries with geographically demarcation to the North Sea like France, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany faced significant reductions in fishing opportunities, as some quotas now went to the UK. According to a 2022 report by the European Parliamentary Research Service, the total loss of EU quotas between 2021 and 2023 amounted to over 78,000 tonnes of fish, valued around 107 million euro .

Extension of the TCA Fisheries Terms

In the TCA agreement, it was sat to run out at 2026. But on 19 May 2025, the EU and the UK made a new deal, where the current status quo will be extended until 2038. This means that UK will keep its 25% new fishing quotas and then agree yearly quotas with the EU and Norway and issue license to control who has the allowance to fish in the British EEZ. Even further, the EU and UK agreed on a £360m "fishing and coastal growth fund", which can invest in new technology and equipment.