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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will speak on Sunday to decide whether to continue negotiations to reach a trade deal and avoid a damaging change to the predetermined terms.
The talks remain difficult, said a British source, as the two sides sought a way to reconcile the EU’s demands for guarantees of comparable standards in the UK in exchange for free access to the single market, with London’s desire to that autonomy diverged.
The talks were expected to drag on until late at night between the teams of Michel Barnier and David Frost in Brussels on Saturday and continue on Sunday before the two leaders speak. Ms Von der Leyen has said that a decision will be made on the future of the talks one way or another on Sunday.
Despite the EU’s hopes that the dire prospects for the British economy would force the London government to compromise, it is understood that Johnson’s position has not changed.
Transition time
Britain’s transition period, during which it has largely held the same terms temporarily since leaving the bloc in January, will end on December 31 and, without a deal, the predetermined terms of the World Trade Organization will enter into force. force, including high tariffs on some products.
Both sides have said that the failure to reach a deal is now a more likely outcome than not, an outcome that is expected to shrink the British economy and hurt Irish exporters in particular, while causing widespread disruption.
Negotiators have long struggled to reach agreement on the three sticking points of governance, fishing rights and the so-called level playing field, and the question of how to ensure fair competition in the future emerges as the biggest hurdle. as the conversations progress. its end.
Earlier on Saturday, confirmation from the British Ministry of Defense that four Royal Navy gunboats have been put on standby to protect British waters from EU trawlers if there is no deal was greeted angrily by some senior conservatives. rank.
The reports also suggested that UK ministers are considering strengthening the Navy’s powers in legislation to authorize them to tackle and arrest fishermen who break post-Brexit rules.
Tobias Ellwood, Conservative Chairman of the Commons Defense Committee, called the threat “irresponsible,” while former European Commissioner Lord Patten said the prime minister’s rhetoric of no-deal was based on the “runaway train of English exceptionalism.” .
Meanwhile, former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said that the deadline for the end of the Brexit transition period should have been extended due to the global pandemic.
‘One of the big mistakes’
He told Times Radio: “In my opinion, one of the big mistakes this year, particularly when the pandemic hit, was insisting that the transition period ended on 12/31.
“It is a known fact in the history of trade agreements that trade agreements go on. They create division and difficulty, and the idea of trying to bring a trade deal into a calendar year in the middle of a global pandemic was not, to put it in its mildest form, not a good idea, and still is not. ”
He said British and EU negotiators could decide on Sunday that they need more time.
“I think people should be big enough to say, ‘Listen, we’ve had a pandemic all year, we’re going to have more time for this.’
Mr Ahern added: “I think just blowing it up and going into a whole period of uncertainty and retrograde steps for Europe, retrograde steps for the UK, is the last thing they should do.” – Additional reports: agencies
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