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This was decided after their three-hour dinner on Wednesday night, during which Johnson and Uon der Leyen failed to bridge the great gap.
Johnson arrived in Brussels on Wednesday to try to salvage failed trade talks. The two leaders agreed over dinner that their negotiators would make one last attempt to reach a compromise.
“We have had a lively and interesting discussion on all pending issues,” the head of the European Commission said in a statement distributed after dinner at her office in Brussels.
“We have a clear image of our positions. They are still very different, “he added.
A senior British source said the talks were “candid”. He added that it was not yet clear whether it was possible to bridge the “very wide gap.”
The leaders agreed that their negotiating teams will continue discussions “in the coming days” and that a “firm decision” must be made by Sunday, a British source said.
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier and his British counterpart David Frost have managed to narrow the differences in eight months of intense negotiations, but London says the country will regain full sovereignty after half a century of tight economic integration by the end of the year. .
„Reuters“ / „Scanpix“ nuotr./Davidas Frostas ir Michelis Barnier
EU sources said Barnier and Frost would resume talks with their teams on Thursday morning ahead of a meeting of community leaders, which would once again be overshadowed by concerns about future trade ties with the UK.
Johnson came to Brussels, where he previously worked as a newspaper reporter and earned a reputation for being a fierce critic of the EU, meeting der der Leyen at the Berlaymont building, where the European Commission is located.
After posing for photographers, Johnson and Von der Leyen embarked on a meeting that was seen as practically the last chance to make a breakthrough before December 31, when Britain exits the EU single market.
AFP / “Scanpix” nuotr./Borisas Johnsonas
Although the chances of finding a way out of the impasse are small, Johnson “doesn’t want to leave roads untested,” the source said as the two leaders sat down to dinner. They were served with steamed scallops and halibut, a seafood that European fishing boats fish in British waters.
One of the main obstacles to negotiations is disagreement over fair competition provisions. Britain does not agree to a mechanism that would allow the Community to react quickly if the UK and EU trade rules become different over time and put European companies at a disadvantage.
Fishing is another touchy subject. The EU aims to maintain the widest possible access to UK waters.
“There is still no good deal,” Johnson told British lawmakers before leaving for Brussels. However, he says Britain will “prosper” when negotiations with the EU end.
“The opportunity is still there”
If Britain leaves the single market without a trade deal with the EU within three weeks, tariffs and other trade barriers will take effect between long-standing trading partners.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday she still saw a “possibility” of reaching a deal, but warned: “We cannot jeopardize the integrity of the single market.”
According to the chancellor, Britain must agree that the transition from a “harmonized legal framework” between Britain and the EU to a post-Brexit period, when systems will become increasingly different, requires a way to ensure “a level playing field tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. “
AFP / “Scanpix” nuotr./ Angela Merkel
“Otherwise, we will end up with unfair competition, we cannot ask our companies to do that,” he said.
Merkel and other EU leaders, including skeptical French President Emmanuel Macron, will attend the European Council (EC) session in Brussels on Thursday. Johnson was not invited to this meeting.
Der Leyen will brief member state leaders on his discussion with Johnson and clarify where he thinks the talks are headed, diplomats said.
Before a working dinner in Brussels, Johnson spoke with the president of the European Commission on Monday by phone. The conversation took place when the last round of talks between Barnier and Frost ended with no agreement being reached.
The outcome of Wednesday’s discussion was not unexpected, as both sides expressed pessimism before the meeting.
In recent weeks, several Community countries, led by France, have expressed concern that Germany and the European Commission, led by Mr von der Leyen, are willing to make unacceptable concessions to reach a compromise with London.
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