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With a week to go before the deadline for reaching an agreement, Michel Barnier said during yesterday’s virtual talks that negotiators were running out of time, emphasizing that “fundamental divergences still persist.” Both parties have indicated that in order to reach an agreement on key issues, including fisheries, governance and a level playing field, negotiators must meet in person.
Express.co.uk understands that the EU is expected to change slightly and move closer to Boris Johnson’s demands, which are seen by several EU coastal states as a disadvantage for their fishermen.
A Whitehall source said the EU could “give in” this week, as Michel Barnier is expected to attend London to discuss face to face with Lord Frost when he comes out of self-isolation.
The source close to the negotiations added: “After months of resistance and trying to get ahead on their own for the fisheries, there seems to be a change in the tone of the EU.
“This is a key part of the talks, we are an independent coastal state and this is how we will move forward.”
Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet Office Alex Chisholm told the Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that there is still “undoubted” time to reach an agreement, adding that some of the “seemingly tough time constraints and fast “have not been so strict after all.
The UK leaves the EU single market and customs union at the end of the year and, without a deal, tariffs and quotas could be imposed on trade with the bloc.
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8:45 am update: MEP claims Boris Johnson is to blame for Brexit deal
German MEP Bernd Lange, who heads the EU parliament’s trade commission, claimed that Boris Johnson caused delays in the implementation of a Brexit trade deal.
Lange said, “It’s already five past twelve.
“We need a text, otherwise ratification and democratic scrutiny by the European Parliament will be a sham.
“Boris Johnson’s game has got us to where we are now. We won’t pay the price for that!”
8am update: no-deal Brexit would hurt UK economy, says Bank of England head
Long-term damage to the economy is likely to be greater from a no-deal Brexit that of the Covid-19 crisis, the country’s main banker has said.
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said the effects of leaving the EU under the terms of the World Trade Organization (WTO) would last longer than those of the global pandemic.
Bailey told MPs on the Treasury Select Committee: “I think the long-term effect would be greater than the long-term effect of COVID.”
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