UK threatens to trigger EU dispute tool over French fishing row

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has complained to EU chief Ursula von der Leyen that French threats over fishing were "completely unjustified" as a British minister said London was "actively considering" invoking a Brexit dispute tool for the first time.

Von Der Leyen tweeted that the European Commission was "intensively engaging for finding solutions" on both the fishing spat and another linked row with Brussels over their divorce pact's implementation in Northern Ireland.

The simmering feud over fish has already seen a British trawler detained in a French port and Paris' ambassador in London summoned to the Foreign Office for the type of dressing down usually reserved for hostile states, not allies. During talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome, Johnson "raised his concerns about the rhetoric from the French government in recent days over the issue of fishing licences," his office said.

Johnson stressed "the French threats are completely unjustified and do not appear to be compatible" with the agreement governing Britain's departure from the EU.

Hours earlier, Johnson told Sky News he has not ruled out invoking an as-yet untested dispute settlement process allowed under the terms of the separation struck last year.

"No of course not, I don't rule that out," he said, the day after Britain warned it may also implement new checks on all EU fishing boats.

France is incensed that Britain and the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey have not issued some French boats licences to fish in their waters post-Brexit.

Paris has vowed that unless licences are approved, it will ban UK boats from unloading their catches at French ports from tomorrow and impose checks on all products brought to France from Britain.

On Friday, French Prime Minister Jean Castex said in a leaked letter to von der Leyen that Britain should be shown "it causes more damage to leave the EU than to stay in."

The letter, obtained by Politico, drew an angry response from Johnson's Brexit minister David Frost, who said on Saturday he hoped "this opinion is not held more widely across the EU."