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News agencies AFP and Reuters report, however, that Johnson and von der Leyen have agreed that Sunday will be a new deadline to try to bring the negotiations to an end.
A British source tells Reuters that there are still “very big cracks” between the two sides, but that they do not want to abandon the negotiations before everything has been tried.
Almost exactly at 20 o’clock On Wednesday evening, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson addressed the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in Brussels.
Without comment, the duo posed for the photographers before entering the dinner, which could be absolutely decisive for the relations that will apply between the EU and the United Kingdom from January 1.
Just over three hours later, Johnson left again, according to British journalists at the scene. Shortly after, a statement came from Ursula von der Leyen:
“We have had a lively and interesting discussion, but we are far apart and have agreed that our groups will meet immediately so that we can reach a decision before the end of the week,” von der Leyen wrote in a statement at the end of the week. . Wednesday night.
At stake is the question of whether there will be a comprehensive trade and cooperation agreement or whether economic relations will continue for the time being in accordance with WTO rules, with all kinds of tariffs and quotas.
After a deal on Tuesday on how practical border issues in Northern Ireland will be handled in the future, there was optimism about good humor.
Still he warned that everything can still land in what is called a “hard Brexit”, without an agreement between London and Brussels.
In front of the lower house of the British Parliament, Johnson himself has continued to call the EU’s demands too harsh.
“Such conditions would not be acceptable to any prime minister of this country,” Johnson said before leaving for Brussels, referring both to fishing rights and the question of whether British rules should be compatible with those of the EU.
German Chancellor At the same time, Angela Merkel has pointed out that the EU does not agree with anything.
“If there are conditions from the British side that we cannot accept, we are ready to continue on the track without an agreement,” Merkel told the German Bundestag, according to the Reuters news agency.
Disagreement on three issues has long been what prevented an agreement. It is about who should be allowed to fish and how much in British waters, how to ensure EU and UK companies can compete on a level playing field and how and where future disputes should be resolved.
Before dinner on Wednesday night It has been speculated that von der Leyen and Johnson may agree that it is worth trying a bit more bargaining after all, with the help of new compromises or interpretations of what is required. So chief negotiators Michel Barnier and David Frost may have one last chance in the days and weekends to come.
Another alternative is for the parties to declare completely loud that the disagreement is too great. In that case, the introduction of various emergency measures is expected to alleviate the situation, for example, obtaining permits for air traffic. After that, it will likely be a long time until 2021 before negotiations on limited deals can begin.
Katrine Marçal: The EU and the UK can’t even agree on what dinner is for
