France:In the onging Brexit debacle creating a lack of clarity over the future of European trade relations, France may end up getting cut out of important trade routes that bring billions in revenue—and Paris is now up in arms.
France has vehemently slammed the European Commission‘s proposal to exclude French ports from the planned re-routing of a strategic trade corridor between Ireland and mainland Europe after Brexit.
The new route proposed by the Commission would link Ireland by sea with Dutch and Belgian ports, including Zeebrugge and Rotterdam. Meanwhile, France‘s Calais and Dunkirk ports would be circumvented.
French Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne excoriated the move, which could prevent France from taping billions of euros in an EU grant, as “not acceptable”.
In a stern letter to European Commission transport authorities, she said France and Ireland’s “important trade channels” had not been taken into account: “The geographical proximity between Ireland and France creates an obvious connection to the single market…Surprisingly, the Commission proposal in no way takes this into account… This proposal therefore is not acceptable to France.”
For France, much is at stake, including potentially billions in revenues from the ports themselves, jobs and funding for infrastructure from EU programs.
