Fisheries and borders, the quarrel with Johnson threatens COP26

PARIS – Emmanuel Macron and Boris Johnson can’t agree even on what they said. Their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 was one of the most anticipated and difficult bilateral meetings of the summit given the accumulation of conflicting dossiers between the two shores of the Channel. The thirty-minute face-to-face in Rome ended with a communiqué from the Elysée that spoke of a common desire for “de-escalation”, a few hours after the ultimatum launched by Paris which envisages retaliation against London in the event of non-concession of new licenses to French fishermen in British waters.