Military deployment in the Channel Islands: how British dependencies close to France in conflict over Brexit and fisheries

France Yes UK on Thursday, patrol boats deployed to the English-speaking island of Jersey, in the Channel, of which the port was blocked by French fishermen to protest against the fishing conditions imposed after Brexi.

Paris and London have been fighting for several weeks over the issue of fishing. French fishermen say they are prevented from fishing in British waters due to difficulties in obtaining licenses. To this are added new requirements the UK set last Friday for access by French fishing vessels to the territorial waters of Jersey. For France these new rules have no effect since London has not notified them to the European Commission and they are not part of the fisheries agreement negotiated as part of Brexit.

British citizens

Jersey is part of the said archipelago Channel Islands. Jersey is the largest island, followed by Guernsey, which has jurisdiction over the smaller inhabited islands of Alderney, Herm Yes Sark.

The islands have a combined population of 165,000 British citizens, the majority – nearly 100,000 people – were concentrated in Jersey.

However, the islands are not part of the United Kingdom.

Classified as crown dependencies, they recognize the queen Isabel II as head of state. London is also responsible for its defense and international diplomacy.

But they do not send representatives to the British parliament and are managed by their own assemblies Yes Governments.

The islands also have their own legal and fiscal systems.

Right next to France

The Channel Islands are much closer to France than to Great Britain, approximately 22 kilometers (14 miles) from the Normandy coast and 130 kilometers from the south of England.

Part of the French Duchy of Normandy from 933, the islands were incorporated into England during its conquest by the Norman ruler William the Conqueror in 1066.

In 1204, the king jean of England lost Normandy, but preserved the Channel Islands, which in French are known as the Channel Islands.

They were the only part of the British Isles occupied by Germany during WWII, taken without resistance after the fall of France in 1940. The Germans did not surrender until May 1945.

Massive tax havens

Free to establish their own tax rules, the islands have a lax system which makes them one of the largest offshore financial centers in the world.

Only Jersey is home to over 400 mutual funds which manage assets of 378.1 billion pounds sterling (436 billion euros) and 24 banks with 131.5 billion pounds of deposits, according to Jersey Finance, the industry lobbyist.

He has one zero corporate tax rateexcept for companies that offer financial services, which pay 10 percent on profits.

Brexit bothers

The Channel Islands have never been members of the European Union and are therefore exempt from most EU rules.

However, they had to follow Great Britain to leave the customs union Yes the single market after Brexit, despite the fact that they did not vote in the 2016 referendum.

In addition to the dispute over access to fishing grounds, Brexit caused supply problems to the island.

EU additional bureaucracy and tariffs particularly affect its fishing industry password, which exports mainly to France.

As the fishing dispute escalated, a French minister threatened not too veiled to cut the electricity supply to the islands, which depend on French power plants.

Francophones

Even though many inhabitants have French names, Britain remains the dominant influence on the island of 100,000, using UK currency and passports and driving on the left.

However, a small fraction of the population still speaks traditional Norman languages of Jerriais Yes Guernesiais, both close to French.

The islands’ best-known exports include Royal Jersey dads, Jersey cows, the television detective series Bergerac, the actor of Superman Henry cavill and former English footballers Matt Le Tissier Yes Graeme Le Saux.

(With information from AFP)

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