[ad_1]
BRUSSELS: The European Union and the United Kingdom will return to the negotiating table on Monday (December 14) after agreeing to abandon a supposed deadline for a post-Brexit trade pact.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and Prime Minister Boris Johnson had said last week that they would decide whether a deal was possible by the end of Sunday, but agreed in a crisis call to “go the extra mile.”
“Our negotiating teams have been working around the clock for the past few days,” von der Leyen said in a video message, reading a joint statement agreed to with Johnson.
“Consequently, we have instructed our negotiators to continue the talks and see if an agreement can be reached even at this last stage,” the leaders said.
They didn’t offer a new deadline, but Conservative Party lawmaker Mark Harper suggested the extended talks could go straight to the wire, with less than three weeks until Britain exits the single market by the end of the month.
“Many of us are anticipating that it is entirely possible that we will return to Parliament between Christmas and New Years to examine this and vote on it if an agreement is reached,” he told the Press Association.
EU negotiator Michel Barnier and Britain’s David Frost held talks late on Saturday and early on Sunday. They have been alternating between the capitals but a European official said that, for now, they would remain in Brussels.
READ: No deal on Brexit trade is more likely than a deal – EU Commission head
READ: British Prime Minister Johnson says no-deal Brexit is ‘very, very likely’
Barnier will brief European ambassadors Monday morning on the current status of the negotiations, said EU Council spokesman Sebastian Fischer.
Johnson insisted that a deal was far from secure.
“I’m afraid we are still very far apart on some key things, but where there is life there is hope,” he said in Downing Street after briefing his cabinet on the call.
“The UK will certainly not walk away from the talks. I still think there is a deal to be done if our partners want to do it,” he added.
The reports suggested that the two sides were exploring a possible agreement on how to respond if their regulations diverge over time and threaten fair competition.
READ: Nerves in the UK financial sector at the prospect of a ‘no deal’ Brexit
But Britain cannot commit to the “fundamental nature” of Brexit, controlling UK laws and fisheries, the prime minister said.
Without an agreement, channel-to-channel trade will once again be governed by World Trade Organization rules, with tariffs that will drive up prices and generate red tape for importers, and the failed negotiation could poison relations between London and the continent in the coming years. years.
“Either way, whatever happens, the UK will do very, very well,” Johnson insisted.
“THERE IS NO STONE WITHOUT WALLING”
Ireland runs the risk of losing more than any other EU country if trade with its larger neighbor is disrupted, and it cautiously welcomed the pardon.
“It is time to stay nervous and allow negotiators to move slowly, even at this late stage. The joint statement on the Brexit negotiations is a good sign. A clearly very difficult agreement, but possible,” tweeted the Foreign Minister Exteriors, Simon Coveney.
READ: Shortages, traffic jams and closures: UK braces for ‘no deal’ Brexit chaos
READ: Johnson tells UK to ‘brace’ for no-deal Brexit collapse
However, the hardline pro-Brexit faction in Johnson’s own British Conservatives was unconvinced, and MPs launched their own tweets warning against any concessions.
Much of the text of a potential trade deal is said to be ready, but Britain and Brussels are arguing over a mechanism to allow for retaliation if UK and EU laws diverge in a way that puts continental companies at a disadvantage. competitive.
“Defending the single market is a red line for the European Union,” said an EU source. “What we have proposed to the UK respects British sovereignty.”
In London, the government insists Britain is ready to leave the union and run its own affairs after 47 years of close economic integration.
Downing Street says it has mapped out “all foreseeable scenarios” for problems after December 31, and “no one has to worry about our vital food, medicine or supply chains.”
The government says it is ready to offer considerable new support to sectors in the firing line, such as agriculture and automotive, but British business groups are appalled at the lack of clarity on future trade rules.
Meanwhile, Scotland’s nationalist government demanded an end to “the crippling uncertainty” of a possible no-deal Brexit adding to the coronavirus pandemic.
And the European Parliament is deeply unhappy that time is running out for a comprehensive review of any pact before the year-end deadline.
“Irresponsible and bitter,” German MEP Bernd Lange tweeted about the long saga, warning that serious ratification is becoming “increasingly impossible.”
