French ports were excluded from plans adopted by the European Commission to create shipping routes from Ireland to the rest of the Continent while avoiding Britain – which could cost Paris billions of euros in EU grants.
The Commission, the EU’s powerful executive, decided to create a direct shipping route by connecting Dublin and Cork with the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands and the Belgian ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge.
A Commission spokesman said: “This is to guarantee the connectivity of Ireland with maintain Europe, in particular by ensuring clarity and continuity as regards future priorities for infrastructure development and investments.”
A diagram, dated July 11 and published on the Commission’s website, seven French seaports – Roscoff, Brest, Cherborug, Le Havre, Caen, Calais and Dunkerque – were listed on map with connections to Ireland, suggesting they were once considered routes.
