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The United Kingdom and the European Union are just hours away from making the official announcement of an agreement to regulate trade and political relations between the two blocs in the post-Brexit period.
According to various media outlets, after a business marathon in recent days, officials from both parties are just presenting the latest details where there is still no understanding. The members of the negotiating teams are in the European Commission building adjusting the language of the agreement, but the draft agreement was already closed yesterday and the global agreement is not at stake.
The deal was expected to be made official this Christmas morning, but the details of the fisheries are delaying the announcement of the “white smoke”.
Speaking to the public broadcaster RTE, Irish Chancellor Simon Coveney confirmed that a press conference with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was scheduled this morning, which has not happened as “apparently last minute difficulties have arisen”. with fishing, one of the three ‘files’ that dragged the negotiations over the months, along with the issues of competition and dispute resolution, which have already been overcome.
Still, the Irish minister said he is confident that the long-awaited announcement of a trade agreement between the EU and the UK still “happens today.”
Several diplomatic sources cited by Lusa point to the announcement of an agreement very soon, with the long-awaited phone call between Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who were in contact at all times. even during the last dawn – to ‘seal’ the deal, a week from the end of the “transition period” until the consummation of “Brexit” on December 31st.
This agreement will formally complete the separation of the United Kingdom from the European Union, four years after the referendum that showed that this is the will of more than half of the British. The existence of an agreement allows to avoid the chaotic Brexit from the beginning of next year, since it establishes the maintenance of trade without tariffs and cooperation in areas as different as security and aviation.
Boris Johnson, who attended a press conference this morning to announce the deal, wasted no time in drawing political dividends from the understanding reached with the European Union. According to a document quoted by the British press, the British government claims victory over the European Union on 28 points of the agreement, acknowledging that it has made concessions on only 11 issues. It also reports 26 areas where there were commitments from both parties.
After reaching the agreement with Brussels, the British Prime Minister still has to guarantee the “ok” of Parliament, so he is already internally promoting the merits of the agreement reached.
Von der Leyen decisive to avoid cliff
Apparently decisive for the progress made in the last hours, decided Von der Leyen, who took the reins of the negotiation directly with Boris Johnson, giving greater political weight to a dialogue blocked by technical issues that could only have a political solution.
If the agreement is confirmed, the ratification process should start urgently. The European Parliament has scheduled an extraordinary plenary session for December 28, an appointment made to avoid a delay in the discussions, as it turned out. However, time is running out and it will be difficult not only to guarantee the ratification (the national parliaments of the 27 Member States must examine) an eventual agreement, but also to guarantee that MEPs are in a position to vote on it next week .
Therefore, to avoid a scenario called precipice, it may be necessary to find conditions so that a partnership agreement that can be formalized can be provisionally applied as of January 1, once the transitional period defined to give stability to relationships has ended. between the British withdrawal from the Union, on January 31, and the definition of a post-Brexit agreement.
This is because, at the beginning of 2021, the United Kingdom is no longer integrated into the single market and the customs union, so exchanges between the two blocs are now regulated by the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO ), whatever happens. it would generate distortions with the application of tariffs and customs controls.
This would necessarily translate into shortages and, for example, endless lines of trucks like those seen in recent days due to the blockade imposed by several European countries on the transport of goods and passengers from the United Kingdom.
Help at Christmas and complicate fishing
The exhaustion caused by almost 10 months of a convulsive negotiation added to the proximity of Christmas and the intention of the participants to spend the Christmas season without looming the scene of a non-agreement, also contributed to the apparent loosening of the knot.
The Financial Times yesterday quoted a British executive source who said he believed in an agreement on Wednesday, considering that “nothing is impossible” and that, at this point, all the members of the negotiating teams wanted to “go home” and spend a Christmas rested.
The issue of fishing has been an obstacle above all. The United Kingdom intends to regain control of its territorial waters from 1 January and retain a significant part of the fish caught there by Community vessels and higher than that provided for in the current quota system. The European bloc wants the new system to be implemented gradually and over a long period of time, ensuring significant access to British waters. France, Denmark and Spain are among the Member States with the greatest interest in this matter.
The other major obstacle concerns fair rules in the single market, the so-called “level playing field”. To avoid unfair competition, the Union wants the UK to be obliged to monitor the adoption of environmental or labor standards by the European bloc, but London responds that this casts doubt on the sovereignty that the Brexit referendum sought to regain.
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