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EU and UK officials are due to resume intense negotiations in Brussels this morning on a future relationship treaty.
The two sides are said to remain widely separated on the most difficult issues.
The UK’s chief negotiator has said that he will not change the UK’s position that any deal must be compatible with what he called British sovereignty and will regain control of its laws, trade and waters.
David Frost’s tweet that he would not change course was a clear warning that the political turmoil in Downing Street last week, especially the dramatic departure of chief adviser Dominic Cummings, did not mean that, with the Vote Leave faction neutralized, Gran Britain would be softening its position in the negotiations.
While a level playing field, governance and fisheries remain the main obstacles, the focus is now on the so-called non-regression clauses.
These would be designed to ensure that when producing goods for sale in the other party’s markets, both parties will adhere to the same standards in aspects such as labor and labor law, as well as environmental, climate change and tax standards.
2/4 We are working to reach an agreement, but the only possible one is one that is compatible with our sovereignty and regains control of our laws, our trade and our waters. That has been our constant position from the beginning and I will not change it.
– David Frost (@DavidGHFrost) November 15, 2020
The EU has insisted on an evolution clause so that both parties do not deviate from standards over time.
The UK is resisting this, and also the fact that the baseline would be the current standards that the EU applies, and that Britain still applies until January 1.
On fishing, high-level figures say both sides are “miles apart.”
It is understood that progress has been made on a joint legal text in the non-contentious areas, although the key paragraphs have not yet been closed, a reminder that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.
The text is said to be over 600 pages long, including annexes.
That is why both the Member States and the European Parliament, which have not yet seen the text, will want as much time as possible to analyze it.
That is why they say that the end of this week, or the beginning of the next, must be the absolute deadline for a deal.
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