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The leaders of Britain and the European Union met on Wednesday (local time) for a dinner that could pave the way for a post-Brexit trade deal, or tip the two sides toward a chaotic economic breakdown at the end of the month.
The early morning comments from both sides insisting that the other should compromise only highlighted the difficult task ahead of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. They only have a few hours with a multi-course meal to trigger negotiations that are stalled on key aspects of the future relationship of the EU and Britain.
Johnson’s press secretary, Allegra Stratton, said the prime minister and von der Leyen “both believe there must be some political momentum now.” Johnson’s office said that if the two leaders agree, their top negotiators, who will attend Wednesday’s dinner, could resume talks on a final deal.
But the two sides gave ominously opposing views on the main sticking points, each insisting that the other must act to reach an agreement.
“There is still a lot to do,” Johnson insisted. But he told lawmakers in the House of Commons that the bloc’s demands that the UK continue to abide by its rules or face retaliation were not “terms that any prime minister of this country should accept.”
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel said “there is still the possibility of an agreement”, but stressed that the EU will not compromise its fundamental principles. Merkel told the German parliament that the bloc “would take a path without a … agreement if there are conditions on the British side that we cannot accept.”
The UK left the EU on January 31 after 47 years of membership, but remains within the tariff-free single market and the bloc’s customs union until the end of the year. Reaching a trade deal by then would ensure there are no tariffs or quotas on the trade of goods on January 1, although there would still be new costs and red tape for businesses.
Frank Augstein / AP
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will make one last attempt to make a breakthrough on a Brexit trade deal during a dinner with Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.
Failure to strike a trade deal would mean tariffs and other barriers that would hurt both parties, although most economists believe that the British economy would be hit the hardest because the United Kingdom does almost half of its trade with the bloc.
Months of trade talks have failed to close the gaps on three issues: fishing rights, fair competition rules, and the governance of future disputes.
While both parties want a deal, they have fundamentally different views of what it entails. The EU fears that Britain will lower social and environmental standards and inject state money into UK industries, becoming a low-regulation economic rival at the gates of the bloc, hence the demand for strict “level playing field” guarantees. in exchange for access to their markets.
Merkel said that “the integrity of the single market must be preserved.”
Julien Warnand / AP
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, makes a statement in front of the camera on the Brexit negotiations, after a phone call with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, at the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
“We must have a level playing field not only for today, but we must have one for tomorrow or the day after, and to do this we must have agreements on how one can react if the other changes their legal situation,” Merkel said. “Otherwise, there will be unfair competitive conditions that we cannot ask of our companies.”
The UK government sees Brexit as a matter of sovereignty and “regaining control” of the country’s laws, borders and waters. He claims that the EU is making demands it has not made on other non-EU countries and is trying to force Britain to the bloc’s rules indefinitely.
“Our friends in the EU are currently insisting that if they pass a new law in the future that we in this country do not comply with or do not do the same, then they want the automatic right to punish and retaliate,” Johnson said. he said, calling the bloc’s demands unacceptable.
Francisco Seco / AP
A post-Brexit free trade agreement is on the brink of collapse.
In the gloom, an area of tension has been resolved. The British government has abandoned its plans to violate international law after reaching an agreement with the EU on rules governing trade with Northern Ireland, the only part of the UK that shares a land border with the bloc.
The Brexit divorce deal reached by the two parties last year promised there would be no customs controls or other trade barriers along Northern Ireland’s border with EU member Ireland. As the two sides tried to pin down the details, the British government introduced legislation in September that gave each other powers to violate the legally binding withdrawal agreement in order to maintain the flow of goods to Northern Ireland in the event of a “no Brexit”. agreement”.
Britain claimed the bill was necessary as a safety net, but the move angered the EU, which saw it as an act of bad faith that could jeopardize the Northern Ireland peace deal.
UK Cabinet Minister Michael Gove said the resolution of the Northern Ireland issue provided a “smoother sliding path” towards a broader trade deal with the EU, although bad sentiment generated by the measure violates the law still persists.
