Minister Mrs Amaia Barredo: “The European Union agreement with the United Kingdom is good news for the Basque fishing fleet”

• In a statement to EFE-News agency, the Minister insists on “greater oversight of quota compliance and sustainability practices for all fleets.”

Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country 2025 05 20

Mrs. Amaia Barredo, Minister of Food, Rural Development, Agriculture, and Fisheries of the Basque Government, told EFE-news agency, that “five years after Brexit, the agreement for reciprocal access to British and European Union waters, as well as the key aspects of quota distribution, are now consolidated, and this 12-year extension is good news for the Basque fishing fleet.”

British and EU delegations reached a "fish for food" agreement that grants EU fishermen fishing rights for 12 years in exchange for a boost in trade. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer commented on the granting of EU fishermen access to British waters for a period of 12 years to reach the EU-27 agreement in London.

The European Union fishing sector described the fisheries agreement reached this Monday at the first summit between the European Union and the United Kingdom as a "constructive step." The agreement provides for the extension of fishing access to waters for both parties until 2038.

"This extension of the deadline until 2038 provides stability. On the part of the EU and the North Atlantic countries, it would now be appropriate, as we proposed in Bermeo, to add greater control over compliance with quotas and sustainability practices for all fleets. Something that we scrupulously observe on the part of the Basque fleet. "We cannot risk losing or diminishing species due to illegal overfishing," Amaia Barredo told EFE news agency.

Mrs. Amaia Barredo added that "as the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has pointed out, the European Union now has a single, more normalized relationship with the United Kingdom, following Britain's withdrawal from the EU with Brexit, a move that has not provided them with any benefits."