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The French president continues to insist on maintaining the same access to British waters that his country’s fishing industry has today, officials familiar with the negotiations said. This infuriates the British and increases tensions even among their allies within the EU.
As the Brexit talks enter the final phase of a critical few weeks, officials on both sides wonder if they will be able to reach a final deal. As they wait for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to offer concessions on state aid, another serious obstacle on the road to a deal, according to EU negotiators, Paris’s position on fish is becoming another major cause for concern.
Johnson and Macron have a warm personal relationship, the sources say, working together, but that may not be enough to persuade the Frenchman to risk expelling voters by granting concessions to an old rival at home. EU ambassadors were due to discuss the situation in Brussels on Wednesday.
The issue you are discussing is not very important from an economic point of view, but it is inseparable from the enormous political consequences. Macron has modeled a strong EU position – that the UK should commit to supplying as much fish as it did as a member of the EU – and has maintained it to this day.
The whole deal between the UK and the EU could fail without solving this problem.
Johnson says he wants to be sure a deal will be reached by October 15; otherwise, you promise to withdraw from the talks. Its spokesman James Slack said on Tuesday that the UK was “committed” to trying to reach a deal.
“There are still many unsolved problems and little time,” he told reporters.
Patience is waning in many European countries, especially as the British Parliament is still debating the prime minister’s internal market bill, a law that undermines elements of the Brexit divorce deal and violates international law. According to the Johnson government, the bill is an important hedging policy to keep the UK domestic market going.
But Norbert Roettgen, head of the German Bundestag’s foreign affairs committee, said on Tuesday that Johnson cannot be trusted unless he withdraws the controversial bill.
“In my opinion, it is a tactical move,” he told Bloomberg Television. “Such tactics will not work.”
The European Union is determined not to succumb to Johnson’s provocations about the deadline and is ready to extend the talks for a few more weeks, officials say.
With the UK making fishing a priority and EU negotiators focusing more on state aid concessions, officials see the broad lines of a possible consensus, but that would require Johnson to step up and Macron is unwilling to. Give up your position on the fish. .
Other European governments publicly support Macron. Other fishing nations, such as the Netherlands and Denmark, follow a similar approach. The EU also believes it could demand most of the UK’s concessions by forming a united front, and that emphasizing Macron’s strong position would only make it more difficult for him to land.
But behind the scenes, high-level diplomats speak about the tensions between Paris, Berlin and Brussels as they prepare for the final round of negotiations. While they view Macrono’s position as a negotiating tactic, confidence in the French president has all but evaporated, diplomats say. They are convinced that Macron’s stubbornness may prevent a deal from being reached.
This issue could reach a critical stage when the leaders meet on October 15-16. to discuss Brexit at a summit in Brussels. But they are more likely to avoid arguing about their own position and continue to pressure the UK to make concessions, officials said. EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier will discuss the issue with members of the French parliament.
“Fishing should not be sacrificed or used for swap deals,” said Jean-Pierre Pont, a lawmaker representing Bulone, a major French fishing port, and a member of La Republique En Marche, a party founded by Emmanuel Macrono. – Mr Barnier stresses to us every time that there will be no agreement without an agreement on fisheries. To date, this position has been defended by the EU as a whole. It would be a disaster if no agreement was reached, as was the UK itself. “
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