Mr Dumont, of the centre-right Republicains, said France would back “harder negotiations” to make Britain “understand that fishing rights are very important for us and that was part of the deal”.
“We can find retaliation on scallops. We can find retaliation on docking in France. We can find retaliation on electricity…that’s on the table,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Micheal Martin, Ireland’s Taoiseach, said there was concern the UK has not been engaging with the EU in a “constructive manner”. “We believe the European Union and the UK Government need to engage constructively on a whole range of issues, not least fisheries,” he said.
He added that the UK and the EU need to move on from “micro-disputes” and that many issues can be resolved with “common sense”.
Britain argues that the threats are in breach of the letter and spirit of the UK and EU’s future relationship pact.
Ms Truss accused the French of acting “unfairly” in setting a deadline for issuing more fishing permits, with Paris insisting it will take action unless this happens by Tuesday.
She insisted French boats had been given licences “entirely in accordance” with the EU and UK’s post-Brexit trade agreement.
“We want to have a constructive relationship with France,” the Foreign Secretary told Today. “What we can’t have is unwarranted threats against our fishing industry and against the Channel Islands.”
France is furious that just 16 permits have been issued for small French boats to operate in Britain’s coastal waters out of 47 applications. UK and EU officials continue talks today to establish whether more vessels could be handed permits.
Jersey’s offer will allow 49 boats to fish in its waters until 31 January next year. This is meant to buy time for the skippers to provide proof of historic fishing activity around the island, which is a condition of access in the Brexit fishing deal. 47 licences were issued in May and 66 granted last week.
“Jersey remains open to receiving further data for vessels that currently have no licence, and new applications can be submitted at any time,” the government of Jersey said.
