[ad_1]
The head of the EU Commission, von der Leyen, and British Prime Minister Johnson, wanted to push forward the Brexit negotiations stalled overnight. But in the end it was enough for him to confess: he wants to continue negotiating.
Negotiations between the EU and Britain on a trade deal have been stalled for months, although there is barely time to finalize a corresponding deal. More recently, negotiators in Brussels and London paused, the bosses, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson, should fix it this Saturday night.
However, little has happened: Both sides agreed to continue talks on Sunday despite “significant differences,” von der Leyen explained in a short statement. He will then speak to Johnson again on Monday night. So it does not appear that a concrete agreement was reached during the phone call: both sides would have “welcomed the fact that progress has been made in many areas,” he said in a joint statement. However, “there are still considerable differences of opinion on three crucial issues.”
Fishing rights, competition rules, control
These questions are: a level playing field, consideration of a future agreement and fishing rights for EU fishermen in UK waters. Von der Leyen and Johnson stressed that “no agreement can be reached if these problems are not resolved.” Fishing rights are a symbolic issue for Great Britain and especially France. Paris had recently threatened a veto if its interests were not taken sufficiently into account.
However, insiders believe that the negotiations will not fail because of the fish. In the end, it will probably be possible to agree on a quota system. Competition rules are likely to get more complicated, and the question of whether London will reintroduce a controversial internal market law that would violate previous agreements with the EU. That would be a red line for Brussels.
Time is running out
Britain left the EU on February 1. However, it will remain in the EU internal market and in the customs union until the end of the year. In reality, both parties wanted to use this transition phase to negotiate a trade agreement. The talks have barely advanced for months. Meanwhile, the time for a timely ratification of a possible agreement before January 1 is extremely short.
