EU can shut off power supplies if UK tries to seize control of fish stocks, small print of deal reveals

The EU has secured the ability to shut off gas and electricity supplies if the UK tries to seize control of disputed fish stocks in future, experts are warning.

The sanction – which would hike prices and possibly trigger blackouts – makes a mockery of the prime minister’s claim to have “taken control” of British waters in his trade agreement, they say.

The little-noticed clause in the vast 1,255-page text allows Brussels to kick the UK out of its electricity and gas markets in June 2026, unless a fresh deal is agreed.

The date set is – deliberately – the same as for the review of fishing rights, when Mr Johnson has insisted the UK will finally grab a large share of stocks, having failed to do that in his agreement.

The Institute for Government said Brussels had been determined to secure a connection “between energy and fish” in the negotiations that finally concluded on Christmas Eve.

“It seems that, in the weeds of the deal, they’ve succeeded,” Maddy Thimont Jack, the IfG’s associate director, told The Independent:

“By including annual negotiations on energy from 2026, it would be very easy to leverage access to the EU’s energy market in the annual talks on fish – also starting in 2026.

“This is just another reason why the UK will likely struggle to take back control of any more of its waters in the years to come.”

Losing power supplies could have a significant impact on the UK, which brings in about 8 per cent of its demand through huge power cables under the Channel.

It has previously been suggested that costs could rise by £2bn and that it would be difficult to find replacement supplies to prevent blackouts at times of peak demand.

An EU source confirmed to The Independent that Brussels would limit or withdraw access to its electricity and gas, unless a new agreement was struck in 2026.

Furthermore, future deals would be subject to “annual negotiations” – increasing its leverage over attempts by London to break free of the deal on fish.

That agreement has been condemned by industry leaders as a “betrayal” of Mr Johnson’s promise to “take back control” of fisheries, with some warning they will be worse off.

The UK conceded to the EU’s demand to give up only 25 per cent of its catch, at the end of a five-and-a-half-year transition – setting the scene for a future bitter dispute.

The pre-2026 gains are puny for many stocks, including for cod (up just 2 per cent), plaice (3 per cent), hake (3 per cent) and sole (4 per cent).

Downing Street is still refusing to accept that it has conceded the EU’s right to inflict wide-ranging sanctions for any breach of the fishing agreement, despite it being clearly stated in the deal.

Tariffs could be imposed in numerous other sectors – including other goods, services, transport, intellectual property and energy – the IfG has pointed out.

But Mr Johnson told MPs: “Under this deal, we have taken back control of our waters, and indeed Scottish fishermen from the get-go will have access to bigger quotas of all the relevant stocks.

And he claimed: “Once the adjustment period comes to an end, there will be no limit – other than the limits that are placed by the needs of science and conservation – on our ability to make use of our marine wealth.”