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Negotiators have entered the final phase of tug of war. The agreement should arrive on December 23
by Alb.Ma.
Negotiators have entered the final phase of tug of war. The agreement should arrive on December 23
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The UK and the EU are “on the brink” of a post-Brexit trade deal, the divorce between the two blocs that formally began on January 31. This was stated by EU sources interviewed by agencies on the sidelines of the ongoing negotiations at Palazzo Berlaymont, the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels. The diplomats reportedly reached an agreement on the general outline of the agreement, now awaiting the go-ahead from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the EU.
The text, the result of a tug-of-war of negotiation that has lasted for months, will govern the economic relations between the two former partners as of January 1, 2021: the day after the expiration of the transitional period (December 31) which allowed London to remain in the single market and in the customs union pending the approval of the “deal”.
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It appears that a meeting has been scheduled for December 24 to begin the ratification process for the document. In theory, the agreement should go through the green light of the European Parliament, but given the tight deadline, a “provisional” application will be chosen: the text will be sent to the 27 member states, summoning diplomats for approval at the end of the ‘year. The Eurocamara will vote definitively on the complete package in January, giving the necessary time to evaluate a document of about 2,000 pages. Investors are optimistic about the outcome of the negotiations, with the pound rising to a high of 1.6% in the December 23 session.
The fishing knot
The negotiations, also personally led by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, ran aground on one last obstacle: the fisheries agreements, with the clash between London and Brussels over the right (and margins) of access to European vessels in UK territorial waters.
The European negotiating team, led by Frenchman Michel Barnier, had tried to unlock theDeadpoint with a commitment that would have forced the EU to give up 25% of the fish caught in British territorial waters. The UK responded by upping the ante, extending the showdown until the final round to take place on December 23. The auction has an impact of just 750 million euros, a relative value compared to an exchange that is around hundreds of billions annually. Now the differences seem to have settled, with a formula that will be clarified in the final version of the text.
