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Of: TT
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Photo: Olivier Hoslet / AP / TT
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier at the European Parliament in Brussels on Friday.
Shame for giving up. On Friday, the latest desperate attempts to secure a deal continue ahead of Britain’s departure from the EU on January 1.
Friday is “the moment of truth,” EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier told EU parliamentarians before meeting with his British counterpart David Frost on Friday morning.
– We have very little time left, just a few hours to work on these negotiations, if they want this agreement to go into effect on January 1, Barnier said.
Following a telephone meeting between UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday night, the tone was grim.
“There are great difficulties, especially with regard to fisheries issues. Overcoming them will be a great challenge,” von der Leyen wrote on Twitter.
The European Parliament wants a message for Sunday. Parliament is “ready to organize an additional session at the end of December, if an agreement is reached before midnight on Sunday, December 20,” according to a joint statement by the group leader of the Parliament presented Thursday.
With or without a deal, the UK will leave the EU internal market in less than two weeks.
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