France urged the European Union to take retaliatory measures against the United Kingdom if talks to resolve the post-Brexit row over fishing licenses fail by Dec. 10.
The European Commission has said the dispute must be settled by that deadline as it upped the pressure on the U.K. in the negotiations.
French Secretary of State for European Affairs Clement Beaune on Wednesday stressed it is not a Franco-British issue, but a problem between the whole of the European Union and the U.K.
Beaune said French punitive measures – such as a ban on British trawlers landing their catches in French ports and tighter customs checks to hamper cross-Channel trade – remain "on the table" if a deal cannot be reached.
He told French radio network RTL: "It was the European Commission that told the British – so all of Europe together – that if you don't make big gestures with a lot of licenses on December 10, we are no longer in a European dialogue."
On the potential ban by the French, Mr. Beaune added: "It's one of the possible options but it's better, to be honest, to have European measures.
"All options are on the table, because it's better to have a dialogue, but ... if it doesn't bear fruit we can take European measures."
France's maritime minister Annick Girardin also warned of European retaliatory measures, telling the Ouest France newspaper on Tuesday that "London is testing the solidarity of the European Union'' in the spat.
Beaune said talks between Britain, France and the European Commission on the issue have intensified and are happening daily.
The main source of contention is the number of licenses to fish in waters around the British coastline for smaller French vessels that can prove they operated in those waters before Brexit.
France says Britain has not handed out enough licenses to its fishermen, while the U.K. Government has insisted the overwhelming majority of applications for licenses have been granted.
