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Michel Barnier spoke of a “moment of truth”. There is only “very little time, just a few hours, to bring these negotiations to a meaningful conclusion if we want this agreement to come into force on January 1,” the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator said Friday morning at the European Parliament. MEPs would have liked to hear that after setting a tight deadline the day before: if an agreement cannot be reached in the negotiations on future relations between the EU and Britain before midnight Sunday night, Parliament will no longer sign the trade agreement. pass this year.
In London, Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said Thursday that it was quite possible to continue negotiations until after Christmas. There is also a tactical calculation behind it: the less time Brexiters have to dismantle a potential contract before it goes into effect, the better it is for the government. In either case, the House of Commons could hold a special session until New Year’s Eve to ratify a deal.
Without an agreement, customs duties and controls are introduced in less than two weeks.
In this case, the treaty would initially be applied provisionally by the EU without ratification by the European Parliament. The agreement would enter into force on January 1 and, in fact, MEPs could only approve it afterwards, an affront by EU member states to parliamentarians.
The time is very short because the transition phase of Brexit ends at the beginning of the year, during which Britain remains part of the EU internal market and the customs union. Without a free trade agreement, customs duties and customs controls would have to be introduced in less than two weeks, to the detriment of businesses and consumers.
When it comes to the negotiations themselves, the tone from the EU has been much more positive for days than in London. Also after the phone call between Ursula von der Leyen and Boris Johnson on Thursday night. While the president of the EU Commission stressed the positive and spoke of “substantial progress on many issues”, the British prime minister warned that the negotiations “most likely” will fail unless the EU “substantially changes its position”. The talks are in a “dire situation”.
EU fishermen’s catch quotas are the main point of contention
Above all, the prime minister criticized the “simply unreasonable” attitude of Brussels in the dispute over the catch quotas of EU fishermen in British waters. According to information from the trading circles, the EU is only willing to return 18 percent of the previous catch to the British. London, on the other hand, claims 80 percent. Nor is the question of how long a transition phase of fishing rights should last that perpetuates the status quo. London proposed three years, Brussels eight. After speaking with Johnson, von der Leyen admitted that there were still big differences.
On the other hand, progress was made on a level playing field, that is, the requirements of fair competition between companies from Great Britain and the EU. Bernd Lange, chairman of the European Parliament’s trade committee, said the British “now accept that a mechanism is needed in case one of the parties changes the standards and rules over the years and this leads to a competitive disadvantage. “. The SPD MEP said details of the design are now in dispute.
Both camps reportedly agreed to a release clause.
From the environment of the negotiators it is said that both parties are in a call freedom clause (Freedom clause) would have agreed. Consequently, London should be given the right, as desired, to pass its own laws and regulations. However, if Brussels is of the opinion that this distorts competition, it will initiate a dispute resolution process that may lead to retaliatory fees.
On the contrary, London can also use this mechanism. Because even in the UK there is concern that the EU may pursue an unfair industrial policy. For example, London believes that EU funds should be classified as grants that are included in the new mechanism. This would also affect the new Corona aid boat, of which Brussels wants to distribute 750 billion euros to member states, a lot of money to feed companies and industries with state money.
