The EU has confirmed it wants a short-term arrangement with the UK on fishing quotas in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

Karmenu Vella, the European commissioner for fisheries and maritime affairs, said he wanted to see that “the EU and the UK would decide to continue to give access to each other’s waters”. Otherwise, “the part of the EU fleet, which depends on access to UK waters” would risk “significant negative economic consequences” in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

The EU has drawn up a regulation that would maintain fishing quotas for 2019.

While Brussels has insisted that no mini-deals would be allowed in a no-deal Brexit, it hopes to preserve some existing arrangements for the rest of the year, if the UK reciprocates, to ease the economic shock of the UK crashing out of the EU.

Fish caught in British waters are worth about €585m (£502m) a year to EU27 countries and accounts for a substantial part of the catch for eight of them. Half the fish landed by Belgian boats is caught in British waters.

No-deal Brexit also raises questions about fish and chips in the UK, as the Britain imports most of its cod and more than half of its haddock. An EU official said fish and chips was “a trade issue and not a fisheries issue”, meaning that the UK would have to import white fish.

The British fishing industry also relies on European consumers to buy fish UK customers are less keen on, such as mackerel and herring.

Fish will be one of the most emotive issues in the Brexit talks. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has described fishing rights as “a lever” to guarantee that the EU gets what it wants from the future relationship with the UK. The “scallop wars” last year between French fishermen and their British counterparts also revealed how quickly disputes can escalate.

But if Britain crashes out of the EU, officials say there could be no long-term agreement to cover the 100 shared stocks. The UK would be expected to agree the issues covered in the withdrawal treaty, citizens’ rights, the financial settlement and the Irish border, before moving on negotiate other areas, such as fish.

Vella’s statement was the latest in the series of coordinated announcements from Brussels, which wants to show the EU is ready for a potential no-deal Brexit in eight days’ time.

This week the European commission revealed that individuals would be banned from bringing British meat or cheese into the EU. It has also emerged that UK farmers and producers will be unable to move animals or export animal products over the Irish border in the event of a no-deal Brexit, because the British government is behind in adopting rules that would put the UK on to the EU’s approved list.