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TALK ABOUT A post-Brexit trade relationship between the UK and the European Union continues this week as the clock ticks until the end of the transition period.
UK chief negotiator David Frost is in Brussels for another round of negotiations ahead of a European Council video summit on Thursday, which has been touted as a deadline for a draft agreement.
The UK formally left the European Union in January, but will continue to abide by the bloc’s regulations until the end of the year, just over six weeks.
If there is no agreement by the end of December, goods traveling between the two areas will be subject to tariffs set by the World Trade Organization.
Issues that still need to be resolved are believed to include the ongoing dispute over fishing rights, how any agreement between the two parties will be governed, and “level playing field” measures aimed at preventing unfair competition on issues including state subsidies. .
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said the talks regarding fishing were not in a good place.
“It’s not good, I mean, that’s the truth, I mean that the negotiations are not in a good place when it comes to fishing. There has really been no success in closing the gap between the positions of both sides, ”he said.
And until we find a way to do it, there will be no deal. So we are in the same place in fishing as in the middle of summer. Neither side has really moved from its position, minor concessions have been discussed on both sides, but it hasn’t really moved anywhere.
On the British side, Frost has tried to sound optimistic, saying there has been progress in a “positive direction” in recent days.
However, he added that the talks may not be successful and reiterated the point made by Boris Johnson that the country must be prepared for an exit with or without a deal.
The deadlines imposed on a future agreement have proven to be soft in the past, with Johnson saying in September: “There must be an agreement with our European friends before the October 15 European Council if it is to be in force. by the end of the year.
“If we can’t agree by then, then I don’t see that there is a free trade agreement between us, and we should both accept it and move on.”
1/4 Will arrive in Brussels again shortly for another round of negotiations with the EU and @MichelBarnier this afternoon.
Our British team and I have been in talks almost every day since October 22.
– David Frost (@DavidGHFrost) November 15, 2020
The mid-October deadline appeared to be erased earlier that month, when Downing Street and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed to intensify talks during a video conference, acknowledging that “significant gaps remained” between the Kingdom. Kingdom and Brussels.
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Any deal reached would be subject to ratification by EU member states, the European Parliament and the UK Parliament, which means time is short.
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The agenda for Thursday’s meeting of 27 European leaders does not mention Brexit, but the response to the Covid-19 pandemic occupies a central place.
But with just one other meeting, between December 10-11, scheduled before the end date of the transition period, they could be seen as a key moment in shaping the UK exit.
Coveney told Sky News yesterday that a deal was “doable.”
“I think I would sum it up by saying that this is very difficult, but also very doable.
“And I think the consequences of not getting a trade deal and a future relationship … before the end of the year, I think are very important.
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