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A deal on Brexit must be reached in the coming days as the EU will not tolerate the prospect of a Brexit collapsing on a 24-hour notice, Simon Coveney warned.
The Foreign Minister has said that Brexit has rekindled old divisions that have resulted in “threats” from the UK, adding that reports of navy ships patrolling British waters have been “very unhelpful”.
Talks on Brexit will continue after today’s deadline after the EU Commission President said this morning that both sides were willing to “go the extra mile.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, spoke on the phone and agreed to continue Brexit negotiations.
We had a helpful call with @BorisJohnson this morning.
We agree that the talks will continue.https: //t.co/rZpN4PmS1i
– Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) December 13, 2020
But Coveney said: “This is really a matter of days, because if this fails, we cannot allow it to happen 24 hours before the edge of the cliff.”
He said the government has been planning a no-deal scenario for more than 12 months, but “it will still be much more disturbing than necessary if there is no trade agreement here and no future relationship agreement.”
“That’s what we’re trying to avoid, but we certainly don’t want to see that announcement 24 hours before it actually happens.”
“This week there will be a lot of pressure on the negotiating teams to try to close this, and I would say that a lot of impatience is coming from both Brussels and London, to make sure that happens,” Coveney told RTÉ’s This Week program. .
Even if UK and EU negotiators manage to reach a deal in the coming days, any deal should be approved in both London and Brussels.
Any agreement would first have to be converted into legal text and translated into 23 EU languages before being signed by the European Council and the European Parliament.
It would also have to go through the Houses of Parliament in the UK.
When asked about the possibility of a plan for food exporters in the event that an agreement is not reached, Coveney said the government “will not be lacking” in terms of supporting vulnerable sectors.
“If we do not have a trade agreement, the agri-food industry will be one of the most affected areas because we sell food and beverages worth 5.5 billion euros to the UK every year.
“If there are tariffs on that trade, we could be paying tariffs of up to 1.5 billion euros, which would be hugely damaging and damaging to that market.”
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