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BRUSSELS: Post-Brexit trade talks were at stake on Monday (December 7) when Britain and the European Union made one last attempt to bridge significant differences and reach an agreement that would prevent a disorderly exit in just 24 days.
With growing fears of no-deal chaos after the UK finally leaves the EU orbit on December 31, talks will resume in Brussels before British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the President of the European Commission , Ursula von der Leyen, please review the situation on Monday night.
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said on Sunday the chances of a deal were 50-50. Investment bank JPMorgan said the odds of an exit from the no-deal deal had risen to a third from 20 percent.
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier was “quite pessimistic about the prospects for a deal” when speaking with national envoys in Brussels on Monday morning, according to a diplomat, adding that Johnson would have to make the decision. last call about a deal.
“The ball is in BoJo’s (Johnson) court,” said the diplomat, who was participating in the briefing. “The differences persist in all three themes.”
Britain formally left the EU on January 31, but has been in a transition period since then under which the rules on trade, travel and business remain unchanged.
For weeks, the two sides have been bargaining, so far to no avail, over fishing rights in British waters, ensuring fair competition for companies and ways to resolve future disputes.
In Brussels, an EU diplomat told Reuters the UK had failed to make the “necessary decisions” on fisheries and fair competition to enable a trade deal, valued at nearly $ 1 trillion annually.
In London, a British lawmaker from Johnson’s ruling Conservative Party said France would have to make concessions on fishing and that the EU would have to abandon its demands on a level playing field.
READ: EU and UK face ‘narrow path’ towards Brexit advance in final push
NO DEAL?
Failure to reach a deal would clog borders, disrupt financial markets, and disrupt delicate supply chains in Europe and beyond as the world tries to cope with the enormous economic cost of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The British pound fell 0.7 percent against the dollar to $ 1.3344, below a 2 1/2 year high of $ 1.3540 reached on Friday. Measures of expected changes in the British pound jumped to eight-month highs.
With only days to reach an agreement, EU diplomats said it was a watershed moment for both the UK and the bloc that turned the ruined nations of Europe into a global power after the devastation of the Second World War.
“Decisive hours for the future of EU-UK relations,” said Sebastian Fischer, EU spokesman for Germany, current head of the EU presidency.
While some diplomats said the late-breaking drama showed a deal was near, Ireland, the EU member state whose economy is likely to be hit the hardest by a disorderly Brexit, said it would not be surprised if the talks failed.
“I still think that we are more likely to find a way to reach an agreement, but I won’t be surprised if it falls apart,” Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney was quoted as saying by the Irish Times.
“If we don’t get an agreement in the next few days, then obviously there are serious problems around ratification and timing.”
In a move that could further undermine the talks, the British government will go ahead with bills this week that would violate London’s previous divorce treaty with the bloc.
Junior Foreign Minister James Cleverly said Monday that clauses violating the treaty would be reinserted.
