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Michel Barnier, head of the European Commission negotiating delegation, arrived in Brussels from London a week ago, and the two delegations have been negotiating almost continuously since then. However, Barnier and the head of the British government delegation, David Frost, issued a joint statement late Friday to the effect that the terms of the deal had not been reached even after a week of intense negotiations.
According to Barnier and Frost, this is due to the fact that there are still significant differences of opinion in the most controversial areas, especially on the issue of a level playing field and fisheries regulation.
On this basis, the two Heads of Delegation agreed to suspend the negotiations to inform their superiors of the situation.
According to the joint statement, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will personally review the situation on Saturday afternoon. Downing Street has indicated that Johnson and von der Leyen are likely to make a phone call or video call.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office in London said shortly before Barnier and Frost’s joint statement on Friday night that Johnson was committed to working harder to reach an agreement, but that the British government could not reach a agreement that would not allow him to regain control of the in areas of utmost importance.
The United Kingdom withdrew from the European Union on January 31. On the day of his departure, a transitional period of 11 months began, that is, until December 31, with the aim of allowing time to agree on the terms of the future bilateral system, in particular a free trade agreement.
However, for a long time there have been serious differences between London and the EU, especially on the issue of a level playing field and regulation of fishing, which, according to a joint statement by the two heads of delegation on Friday evening, they have not been overcome in the current London round.
Boris Johnson had previously set October 15 as the deadline for the deal, stating that at a later date he sees no possibility of a bilateral free trade deal. However, since this period of more than a month and a half, the British and EU delegations have held several rounds of talks in London and Brussels, alternately in a video call, as a member of the EU delegation tested positive for the corona virus and Michel Barnier spent a week in isolation.
The absence of a free trade agreement would mean that trade between Britain and the EU would continue from January under the general rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which in turn would lead to the introduction of tariffs in the currently free bilateral trade. The UK business sector is constantly alerting the UK government to the risks of this.
The Confederation of British Automobile Manufacturers and Dealers (SMMT) said in its annual assessment of the situation ahead of the current round of talks in London that it calculates that WTO rules in the absence of a free trade agreement would make the auto industry continental United Kingdom and Europe lost 110 billion euros by 2025.
Cover image: Getty Images
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