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“We are really at the crucial moment, and we are trying for the last time,” Barnier told reporters on the way to a briefing with EU ambassadors in Brussels on Tuesday afternoon.
Leaders and negotiators on both sides have not yet given up hope for a Brexit solution.
“In ten days, the UK will leave the internal market and I will continue to work, with full transparency from the European Parliament and the Member States,” added Barnier.
EU MPs will also hear from the union’s chief negotiator two days before Christmas Eve. Parliament has already made it clear that they will not have time to consent to a possible deal before the transition period expires on New Years.
The big buoy
Fishing, especially the EU’s access to British waters, now appears to be the last big curve. Officials say the EU can agree to cut its quotas by 25 percent, while the British would prefer to give Europeans much less.
According to The Guardian, the head of the European Commission has asked member states to consider a British offer to cut EU fishermen quotas by 35 percent, instead of 60 percent, as the British have said before. Denmark and France should be the ones slowing down the most now.
In parallel with the negotiations, possible emergency solutions are being explored. The most obvious is the temporary introduction of an agreement, but it assumes that it is an agreement to enter. Postponing the deadline or “stopping the clock” are other possibilities, but all of them are legally complicated.
With just a few days until the British leave the single market, a new variant of the virus in the UK has made things even more complicated. Several EU countries have closed their borders and detained UK planes and trains, but the EU Commission will reopen for necessary travel.(Terms)Copyright Dagens Næringsliv AS and / or our suppliers. We would like you to share our cases via a link, which leads directly to our pages. Copying or other use of all or part of the content can only be done with written permission or as permitted by law. For more terms, see here.
