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A breakthrough is coming in negotiations on the EU’s trade pact with Great Britain. The talks could be concluded soon, he said from EU circles. The last point of contention was the question of fishing rights.
In the Brexit dispute, the European Union and Britain are apparently moving towards a deal. It was “in the final phase”, it was said from the circles of the EU Commission. It appears that EU member states are preparing the procedure for the provisional application of the UK trade agreement from 1 January. From various other sources it was said that the very difficult point of fair competition has now been cleared up.
The second obstacle, fishing, is now very close. There is now apparently only one question to be clarified between EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson: How much fish in the North Sea will fishermen have to do without? EU in the future? About 25 percent of previous EU catches, as Brussels proposes? Or 60 percent, as Johnson demands.
De facto, both parties are currently discussing a fish catch worth around 200 million euros. The value of fish caught by the EU in British waters is around 650 million euros. From the point of view of EU diplomats, a difference of around 200 million euros between the EU supply and the British demand is not a sum that Johnson or von der Leyen will cause the post-Brexit deal to fail.
Vote tomorrow morning?
Should both sides agree to the treaty on the future relationship between the UK and the European Union in the evening, the von der Leyen Commission asks the ambassadors of the member states to discuss and vote on the deal tomorrow morning. .
Both parties have been negotiating a trade pact for the January 1 period for months. Then the transition phase of Brexit ends. If a breakthrough is successful, a severe economic breakdown at the end of the year could be avoided at the last minute.
Barnier: “Last try”
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier announced on Tuesday that the European Union was making a “last attempt” to reach a Brexit trade deal with the United Kingdom, despite deep differences of opinion on fishing rights. In Brussels, he then briefed the representatives of the EU states behind closed doors on the status of the negotiations.
The EU is ready to continue talks even after the end of the year, he said. So far, the British government has refused to extend the transition period beyond December 31.
Higher fees and chaos at the borders in case of failure?
Johnson had declared that he would not agree to any agreement that could undermine British sovereignty. Britain has not been a formal member of the EU since January. However, there is a transition period until December 31, during which the Union rules continue to apply.
If it expires without a new agreement, the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) would apply to trade. So experts fear higher tariffs and chaos at the borders. Diplomatic circles in the EU recently reported that the EU would need at least four days from a procedural point of view to ensure that a negotiated agreement would be implemented from January 1, 2021.
With information from Ralph Sina, ARD-Studio Brussels
