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They are having a hard time. The fronts are sharp. These are keywords for the latest act of the Brexit drama that opens in Brussels on Tuesday.
British dealers will then put an ultimatum on the table. They will demand that the negotiations be concluded in five weeks. If not, the British will leave the negotiating table for good.
Britain left the EU on January 31. But the British have not noticed any particular changes because a transition agreement is valid until 2020. It will be replaced by a trade agreement, which is now being negotiated.
Boris Johnson has thrown a torch into negotiations with the EU.
Photo: DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson demands more speed in these negotiations.
And the British want to emphasize the seriousness of proposing a change in the law. It should be able to remove the legal force in parts of the withdrawal agreement with the EU. This applies to state aid and customs duties for Northern Ireland.
These schemes help ensure that the border can be open, without customs or passport control.
– We are not afraid to leave the negotiations, British chief negotiator David Frost told the Mail on Sunday. He added that Britain would not be a “client state” of the EU.
The chief negotiators have a great challenge ahead. Here, Michel Barnier from the EU (right) and Britain’s David Frost are shown earlier this year.
Photo: POOL Nuevo / Reuters
Bad international light
The opposition in the UK interprets the proposal to change the withdrawal agreement with the EU very differently, writes The Guardian:
– It is dishonest conduct and a betrayal of Great Britain’s international obligations. It will put the UK in a bad position with future trading partners, Labor writes in a statement.
If the agreement is unilaterally changed by the British side, Prime Minister Boris Johnson can break what he himself signed with the EU in October last year. Parts of the bill are expected to be published on Wednesday, writes the Financial Times, which first mentioned the bill.
Linked to the peace agreement
After lengthy negotiations, the EU and the British secured a continuous open border through Ireland. With Brexit, this will be a new external border for the EU.
The agreement guaranteed trade and human interaction between Ireland, an EU country, and Northern Ireland, ruled by Great Britain.
Northern Ireland will be part of the EU customs union and internal market, even if the UK is excluded.
Behind it is the wish of all parties that the Northern Ireland peace agreement is not threatened. The agreement will avoid customs controls and, in the worst case, police and soldiers along the border. This was the case for many years during the conflict in Northern Ireland, before the 1998 peace agreement.
The EU and the UK sit at the same table until mid-October. Then the deadline for agreeing a lasting agreement on the relationship between the parties expires.
Photo: PISCINA Nuevo
But again, the border through Ireland has become a card thrown into the game between the EU and the UK.
When the parties meet on Tuesday, the British will demand more speed in the negotiations. But there is already a common understanding that the negotiations should be concluded by mid-October.
It is considered necessary to implement new legislation and, above all, to obtain the approvals of the EU countries before the turn of the year. Then the temporary transition agreement between the parties expires.
Without a new trade agreement, the more general rules for trade in goods of the World Trade Organization, WTO, apply. This can lead to high tariffs and create difficulties for the export industry.
