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The distance in the talks between the EU and the UK remains wide before Boris Johnson goes to Brussels on Wednesday to meet with EU Commission leader Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday.
CONVERSATIONS: Boris Johnson says there is still a great distance in the Brexit talks. Photo: Daniel Leal-olivas / AFP
– I’m always hopeful, but I have to be honest and say that now it’s very twisted. We are still very far apart. But you have to be optimistic, you have to believe in the power that lies in common sense, Johnson told the BBC on Tuesday.
He travels Wednesday for dinner and a negotiation meeting with the EU Commission leader, Ursula von der Leyen. The hope is to reach an agreement at the last minute, the night before the EU summit.
– I look forward to welcoming British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tomorrow night, writes von der Leyen Twitter.
Hopefully Boris will come to a deal that restores sovereignty to the UK and at the same time gives us an edge over every aspect of the trade we do with them forever.
– Ursula With Der Leyen 🇪🇺 3.5% (parody) (@ JohnMcG55334977) December 8, 2020
MEETING: Ursula von der Leyen receives Boris Johnson in Brussels on Wednesday. Photo: Julien Warnand / AFP
– Confidence at stake
Before the two leaders meet, negotiating leaders David Frost and Michel Barnier will draw up a list of tough questions that remain to be resolved.
Throughout the process, the conditions of competition, fisheries issues and the implementation of a possible agreement have been the most challenging points.
Both sides warn that the negotiations are about to break down and the representatives of the parties have mitigated the possibility of a breakthrough.
– What is required is political will in London. Let me be clear: our future relationship is built on trust. It is precisely this trust that is at stake now, Germany’s EU Minister Michael Roth said before meeting with his colleagues from the other EU countries.
– standing together
On Tuesday, Barnier briefed European ministers on the situation. After the meeting, sign Twitter May the union stick together.
– We will never sacrifice our future for the present. Access to our market comes with conditions, he writes.
At the end of the year, the transition period expires after Brexit, and the United Kingdom thus leaves the EU internal market and the customs union.
Accept the above agreement
At the same time that negotiations on a new agreement are drawing to a close, the EU and the British have agreed on the implementation of last winter’s withdrawal agreement.
The agreement includes the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland. This ensures that the agreement will be fully implemented from January 1, writes EU Vice-President Maros Sefcovic in Twitter. He met with Britain’s Brexit Minister Michael Gove on Monday to discuss the deal.
Irish borders
The agreement includes border stations for the control of animals and plants, export declarations and deliveries of medicines and food, writes the EU Commission. In addition, it clarifies how the State aid rules will be used in relation to the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The border between British Northern Ireland and Ireland, a member of the EU, was the most difficult point of the negotiations until the withdrawal was a fact on January 31.
The Gove and Sefcovic news also means that the British government is withdrawing controversial parts of a bill that meant the British could nullify parts of the divorce agreement. The disputed clauses are also not included in a tax law proposal, as announced.
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