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Once again, negotiations for a trade pact between Brussels and London have stalled. Time is short, nervousness grows. France even threatens a veto.
By Jakob Mayr, ARD-Studio Brussels
Again, a so-called decision week can end without a decision; at least so far there has been no progress in the negotiations on future economic relations between the EU and Great Britain. Worse still: it is not yet clear whether the two parties will meet. EU Council President Charles Michel said: “We will see what is on the table in the next few hours or days.”
Nervousness is growing within the EU, as Chancellor Angela Merkel had already noted earlier in the week: “Of course, some member states are now also restless, there is not much time left and these negotiations are also tough.”
Different EU interests in fish
The result: cracks are showing in the long and closed front of the 27 EU member states. After all, they sometimes have different goals than London. Take fishing for example: according to the European Fisheries Association (EUFA), EU trawlers have made 42 percent of their catches in British waters over the past ten years, some even as high as 60 percent.
Access to British fishing grounds is much less important for Germany or Italy than for Denmark, Belgium or France. Its president Emmanuel Macron emphasized:
“The preservation of the activities of our fishermen in British waters is an essential condition. … France will not accept an agreement that does not permanently respect our interests.”
French European Minister Clément Beaune became even clearer. On the channel “Europe 1” he threatened to stop a possible trade pact if it did not suit Paris: “France, like its European partners, has the option of vetoing it. That depends on our evaluation of an agreement, if it exists.” We owe it to our fishermen and other sectors of the economy. “
Paris fears the wrath of Breton fishermen
The EU requires planning for the safety of its fishing fleets. Britain wants to regain control of its waters and determine each year how much EU trawlers can catch in British waters. In economic terms, fishing is a negligible factor for Britain and the EU, its contribution to the respective gross domestic product is less than one percent. This is a volume of 650 million euros per year.
But for Great Britain and France in particular, fishing has a high symbolic and therefore also political weight: in both countries people have lived from fishing for centuries. Paris fears the wrath of Breton fishermen for what they consider to be bad business. London feels an obligation to cities on the British east coast where Brexit approval was particularly high.
Growing mistrust
The shorter the time window, the greater the mistrust in some EU states about whether their interests are adequately taken into account in the negotiations. It is directed against his own chief negotiator, although Michel Barnier is very familiar with the matter. Since 2007 he was French Minister of Fisheries for two years.
And that goes against the president of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who sent her deputy chief of staff, Stéphanie Riso, to Barnier’s negotiating team, and against the presidency of the German Council. According to an EU diplomat, the Commission and the Council Presidency assume that they absolutely want an agreement with the important economic partner Great Britain. Although Chancellor Merkel emphasized: “We do not need an agreement at any price. We want one, but otherwise we will also take the measures that are necessary.”
Emergency plan, right?
But differences within the EU are also evident in the preparation of a possible no-deal: France, Belgium and the Netherlands are increasingly demanding adequate emergency plans to keep goods moving between the island and the mainland. The EU Commission, however, does not want to pull such plans out of the drawer just yet, to avoid the impression that negotiations can no longer be expected to be successful.
The Chancellor also said: “I would wait as long as possible. We should concentrate all our efforts on the last stage of the negotiations.” In addition to fishing rights, two other points remained controversial until the last stage: the harmonization of the rules on workers’ rights and protection of the environment to ensure fair competition. And the question of how it is verified that both parties maintain a possible agreement.
Business concern
If London and Brussels do not reach an agreement soon, contingency plans should be on the table, says Ulrich Hoppe, Managing Director of the German-British Chamber of Commerce in London. In any case, expect problems in the retail trade: “You will not be able to do everything by the end of the year. Afterwards, many companies will be in a legal gray zone because they may not be able to comply with the regulations because they have only had them for a week” . have experienced beforehand. “
Complicated negotiations are further complicated by Britain’s controversial Internal Market Act. It allows to repeal special regulations in the Brexit Treaty, which are intended to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, a member of the EU. The EU sees this law as a violation of the Brexit agreement. Still, London wants to bring it back early next week. Another stress test in the fight for the business deal. The President of the Council of the EU, Michel, made it clear: “The exit agreement must be applied in its entirety. That is very clear.”
Negotiations in London are ongoing and one thing is for sure: Britain will leave the EU internal market in four weeks.
