Brexit War: Spain Joins Forces With France And Denmark In Bitter Bid To Seize UK Waters express.co.uk

Spain became the latest European Union member state to challenge the British Government's pledge to take back full control of British waters from EU vessels after Brexit. British waters have long been a point of contention between the UK and the bloc as many British coastal communities denounced the strict quota system regulating access to fishing stocks around the British Isles. Spanish MEP Esteban González Pons demanded the EU negotiate in a "stiff fashion" with the UK while pledging to "defend" fishermen across the bloc. Addressing colleagues in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Mr González Pons said: "We’re going to negotiate with them in a stiff fashion as we do with any third country and we will defend our own. "We will defend the decolonisation of Gibraltar, we are going to defend fishermen, those working at sea as well as those working on the land. Our farmers, we are going to defend our products. According to a report from the Marine Management Organisation released in 2018 found France, the Netherlands and Denmark are the top EU member states to catch fish in British waters.