[ad_1]
There must be a breakthrough in the talks by Friday or there may be no way to avoid a massive trade disruption on January 1, the European Union told Britain.
It comes amid a warning from EU capitals that a deal shouldn’t reveal too much. The two sides are locked in intense talks in London to try to avoid a sudden imposition of trade tariffs that would devastate Irish exporters in just a few weeks.
With increasing pressure from businesses and governments to know what to plan for at the end of the month, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier has warned his British counterpart David Frost that unless a breakthrough is made before the Friday, the EU may run out of time to ratify an agreement.
Any agreement must be approved in the European Parliament, and the lack of sufficient time would mean a “massive interruption” of the no-deal terms for the time it took to ratify the deal, said a source close to the talks.
“The point that Barnier was making to Frost was that if we don’t have an agreement or at least something during the next day, we cannot guarantee that there will be an agreement by January 1,” said a source close to the talks. . “Even if we get an agreement in 10 days, if we run out of time too much, there is a very real risk that the agreement may not be ratified in time. We need to put an end to this somehow.
“If there is no ratified agreement on January 1, there will be a massive disruption.”
It came amid growing tensions between member states and the EU negotiating team, with a group of countries led by France warning that they preferred a no-deal outcome to an agreement that gave too much away.
‘Not at any price’
Paris and The Hague have expressed concern that Barnier risks going beyond what they can agree to in an attempt to reach a deal, while the negotiator has suggested he needs more flexibility to win over Britain, according to sources. diplomatic and official.
“Obviously it would be nice to have an agreement, but not at any price,” said an EU diplomat.
Talks remain stalled on fisheries, with each party only willing to give up 20 percent of current stocks to the other, according to a source informed about the talks and the UK insisting that access should be decided in annual negotiations. A proposal to revise the agreement, including fishing quotas, has been discussed in five to ten years as a possible way to allow the EU to accept a difficult compromise in the medium term.
‘Tragedy to farce’
A point of concern for EU observers is the lack of clarity on how future disputes could be resolved, such as Britain breaking commitments on common standards, with faith undermined by Downing Street’s attempts to nullify parts of the deal. withdrawal through national legislation.
Bernd Lange, a German MEP who chairs the European Parliament’s trade committee and was briefed by Barnier on Wednesday as a member of his UK coordination group, said he was less optimistic that a deal could be reached than earlier in the month. week, and that with the facts at hand, a no-deal seemed the best result.
“To be open and frank, I am really upset about the procedure. There is no chance for the European Parliament, and the member states as well, to have proper scrutiny of the deal. This is really going from tragedy to sham and this is really unique in the history of trade agreements in the European Union, ”said Mr Lange. “This is really the end of the game, and that is also clear for the British team.”
[ad_2]