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Michel Barnier, the EU’s top Brexit negotiator, and the leaked news so far indicates that there is no deal yet and Barnier was “quite pessimistic” about the chances of a trade deal.
According to Reuters, behind closed doors, Barnier said the same three main issues remain an obstacle to a final deal that has always been in the news for months, namely fisheries, state aid and dispute resolution. So it also means that the late-night Guardian leak on Sunday that there would have been a breakthrough on fisheries issues in the resumption of talks on Sunday afternoon is not true, and that was refuted by the British government itself on Sunday night.
Following the talks, which came to a halt on Friday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke by phone Saturday night and noted that serious differences still existed in the three areas. and instructed their negotiating teams to meet on Sunday afternoon and try to achieve results, then Today, I mean Monday night, they call back to see if it worked
So given that no substantial progress was made Sunday afternoon and evening, and given that Barnier looked more pessimistic this morning, according to a diplomat (as reported by Reuters), then
greater chances of trade negotiations eventually failing, a global agreement was not reached.
Time is very tight, and it should be agreed in the next few days at the latest (practically before the EU summit from Thursday to Friday) that there is still time to ratify the agreement at the front of the EU and the Member States.
The Irish Foreign Minister, who made a statement in the Irish Times this morning and said that if there was no negotiation in the next few days, ratification would be in grave danger, also referred to this extremely tense agenda.
Although it would give you a better chance of reaching an agreement, it would not be a shock if in the end it was not achieved and the conciliation process fell apart.
All in all, then, this news should be careful enough for anyone to see the chances of a bargain actually joining. It is conceivable that Boris Johnson would wait with concessions until the last minute, that is, the days before the EU summit, so that the resulting compromise does not have enough time for the leaders of the member states to think about it, but also to making painful concessions due to time pressure. they would have been reluctant to go “in normal times.”
Cover Image Source: Thierry Monasse / Getty Images
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