EU-UK talks continue with post-Brexit deal ‘in sight’

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The European Union and the United Kingdom are about to agree on a post-Brexit trade deal, European sources said yesterday, but negotiations continue overnight as they try to finalize final details.

European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer tweeted: “Brexit work will continue throughout the night” shortly after 12am.

“All Brexit watchers are advised to get some sleep at this time. Hopefully, it will be an early start tomorrow morning.”

The British pound rose against the dollar on optimism that a deal could finally be struck, with the British pound rising to $ 1.35 before 4pm. The pound also gained against the euro, which stood at 90.16 pence.

Diplomats from EU member states, who would have to approve any technical deal, were less optimistic, however, warning that they still needed to see a text and that problems may persist.

As the evening dragged on, large quantities of pizza were seen delivered to the EU headquarters and EU Commission spokesman Eric Mamer tweeted a picture of the loot, questioning which flavors had been ordered, with the caption : “Suspense …”

A French government source said UK negotiators had made “huge concessions” in the fishery without confirming whether it had been enough to close the deal.

But a definitive breakthrough in nearly 10 months of torturous negotiations seemed to be near, after EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson took control of the talks.

The last gasp deal, if reached, would come just days before Britain leaves the EU single market at the end of the year, preventing the two sides from suffering trade tariffs.

Any deal still faces a race to be signed by all 27 EU member states before Britain ends half a century of economic integration at midnight on December 31.

A deal, which would still have to be translated and fixed by lawyers, could be tentatively approved before the deadline and then vetted by EU lawmakers in the new year to avoid a chasm.

The focus of the talks had shifted from Monday to over-the-channel calls between Johnson and von der Leyen after exhausted officials failed to bridge the gap on how to share access to UK fishing waters.

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The remaining differences between the two camps were narrow but deep, particularly overfishing, and EU crews face a drastic cut in their catches from British waters.

London has pushed to reduce the share of EU fishing fleets in the estimated annual set of € 650 million by more than a third, with staggered changes over three years.

The EU, particularly countries with northern fishing fleets such as France, Denmark and the Netherlands, insisted on 25% for at least six years.

EU negotiator Michel Barnier informed ambassadors and later high-level MEPs on Tuesday that he had made his last offer on fish and that it was now up to the political leaders.

“Progress has been made. Most of the issues are either preliminarily closed or close to being agreed,” said a senior diplomat, recounting Barnier’s briefing to EU envoys.

“However, the differences in the fisheries remain difficult to bridge. Unfortunately, the UK is not moving enough yet to get a fair deal in the fisheries.”

Brussels was ready to negotiate until the end of the year, or even “beyond”, as suggested by Mr Barnier, but time was running out for any agreement to be applied provisionally.

EU members agreed to keep talking, but a diplomat warned: “Barnier was unable to tell member states if there would be a deal tomorrow, before Christmas, New Years or summer 2021.”

“Also, a narrow road could end up as a dead end,” he said.

A colleague from another member state previously suggested that if there was no progress on Wednesday, talks could resume next week.

If an agreement is not reached, tariffs would be imposed on trade between food and goods channels, compounding the economic impact of a return to a customs border after 47 years of integration.

Britain and France got a preview of what chaos could look like this week when France abruptly closed its borders to British trucks, trains and planes.

Paris was responding to concerns about the spread of a new variant of the coronavirus in Britain, but huge truck queues and threats of supply shortages were taken as an ominous sign.

Both London and Brussels insist they are ready for a return to tariffs and a customs border, but business groups are sounding the alarm about the potential disruption looming.



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