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Updated 2 hours ago
TALK ABOUT A post-Brexit trade deal that looks set to go to the end, as Taoiseach Micheál Martin warned that failure to reach a deal would be “ruinous” for the UK.
Negotiations are expected to continue next week, but the European Union believes that an agreement must be concluded in mid-November so that it can be ratified before the end of the year, when the current transition agreements expire.
Downing Street acknowledged that there are still “significant gaps” between the two sides and that “time is short.”
Martin said failure to reach an agreement would be “very damaging for everyone”, with Ireland and the UK particularly affected.
Without an agreement, trade between the UK and the EU will be subject to tariffs set by the World Trade Organization.
Speaking to the BBC, the Taoiseach said: “We have all had a very significant impact on our economic system due to Covid-19; the last thing we need right now in all of our respective economies is a second major shock.”
Martin also said the UK must be “very careful not to do anything that could destabilize Northern Ireland’s politics”, and that no deal after the transition period could create “unnecessary tensions”.
Teams led by Michel Barnier from the EU and David Frost from the UK took place in London this week.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “Talks continue in London and negotiators are working hard to bridge the still significant gaps that remain.
Time is short and significant gaps remain.
Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that he is willing to leave without a deal, something the government refers to as “Australian terms.”
In response to Martin, the spokesperson said: “We have been working hard at all times to reach an agreement, but we have always said that it must be an agreement that fully respects the sovereignty of the UK, and that is what we continue to seek.
From the beginning, I do not think that we have looked for anything that the EU has not agreed with other sovereign countries, and we are working hard and will continue to work hard, but it is true that there are still significant gaps. .
Short break from the intense negotiations in London.
I went looking for level playing fields … pic.twitter.com/2X4jbygorI
– Michel Barnier (@MichelBarnier) November 12, 2020
The main obstacles between the UK and the EU are believed to include “level playing field” measures aimed at preventing unfair competition on issues such as state subsidies, the dispute over fishing rights and how any agreement between the EU will be governed. UK and EU.
Johnson “would like to come to an agreement” but the transition period will definitely end on December 31 and “we will be ready to go, either on Australian-style terms or with a free trade agreement if it can be reached with the EU.”
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The Prime Minister is “fully confident that we will prosper in all circumstances.”
Stefaan de Rynck, an MBarnier assistant, called for the UK to adhere to ‘fair competition standards’.
“It would be nice a bit of courage to adhere to fair competition standards in the mutual interest of the EU and the UK,” he said.
Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove told MPs: “The UK has already shown a great deal of flexibility in these negotiations, but it is also important that the European Union also shows flexibility.
In particular, there must be a full recognition that we are equal sovereigns. And any attempt to continue to link the UK to EU processes or to extend EU jurisdiction by other means would be quite wrong.
He was unable to say how many of the estimated 50,000 customs agents needed to deal with the new trade agreements were in place.
“It is the case that there has been a significant increase in the number of customs agents who are being employed both by the companies with internal capacity as well as through intermediaries who have also been expanding their own activities,” he said.
Gove was meeting with business bosses to help prepare for the new agreements that will come into effect on January 1, outside the single market and the EU customs union.
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