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Boris Johnson has lowered his Brexit demands in Brussels by asking for up to 60% of catches from EU fishing fleets, but the gap between negotiators remains wide, Michel Barnier told the bloc capitals earlier than he said. that would be 48 crucial hours.
In briefings with EU ambassadors and MEPs in Brussels, the bloc’s chief negotiator said Downing Street had revised its demand down to 80%, but that it was unclear whether the gap could be bridged in the remaining time. prompting member states to warn against rushing the deal.
So far the EU has offered the repatriation of 15% to 18% of fish catches. In the “level playing field” provisions, little by little common ground is being found, and the UK has offered more flexibility in recent days on a mechanism to ensure that neither party can gain a competitive advantage by deregulation over time.
Speaking in front of EU representatives via video conference from London, Barnier said that some progress was also being made by giving Brussels assurances that future UK domestic subsidies, known as state aid, will not distort trade once The transition period ends on December 31st. But problems remain around national enforcement and dispute resolution.
“Barnier said that the next few hours were going to be decisive and the answer was: ‘what’s the rush?'” Said a senior EU diplomat. “Ambassadors from all the countries bordering the UK (11 in total) expressed concern about a level playing field and suggested that he was on the brink of his negotiating mandate.”
EU ambassadors also urged Barnier not to let fishing become the last issue on the table for fear that last-minute pressure would allow the UK to flee with a deal damaging to the European fishing industry.
Barnier also said negotiators were considering including a review clause so that terms could be renegotiated in time, but the ambassadors rejected that proposal. “The EU wants a stable agreement, not something that is going to be rewritten in a few years,” said a source.
Barnier told the ambassadors that he would return to brief them on Friday, emphasizing the importance of moving forward during talks in London over the next two days.
Chronology
From Brefusal to Brexit: A History of Britain in the EU
Brefusal
French President Charles de Gaulle vetoes Britain’s entry into the EEC, accusing Britain of “deep-seated hostility” towards the European project.
Brentry
With Sir Edward Heath having signed the accession treaty the previous year, the UK joins the EEC in an official ceremony complete with a torchlight rally, reverent officials and a procession of political leaders, including former Prime Ministers Harold Macmillan and Alec Douglas. -Home.
Referendum
The UK decides to stay in the common market after 67% voted “yes”. Margaret Thatcher, later to be the leader of the Conservative Party, campaigned to stay.
‘Give us back our money’
Margaret Thatcher negotiated what became known as the UK’s refund with other EU members after the “iron lady” marched to the former French royal palace at Fontainebleau to demand “our own money back” claiming that for every £ 2 contributed we received only £ 1 “despite being one of the” poorest three “members of the community.
It was a movement that sowed the seeds of conservative euroscepticism that would later spark the Brexit schism in the party.
The Witches speech
Thatcher notified the EU community at a decisive moment in EU policy where she questioned the expansionist plans of Jacques Delors, who had pointed out that 80% of all decisions on economic and social policy would be made by the European Community. within 10 years. a European government in “embryo”. That was a bridge too far for Thatcher.
The cold war ends
Collapse of the Berlin Wall and fall of communism in Eastern Europe, which would later lead to the expansion of the EU.
‘No no no’
The divisions between the UK and the EU deepened when Thatcher told the Commons in an infamous speech that it was’ no, no, no ‘to what she saw as Delors’ continued takeover. Rupert Murdoch’s Sun newspaper reinforces its opposition to Europe with a two-fingered cover, “Up Yours Delors.”
Black wednesday
A collapse of the pound forced Prime Minister John Major and then-Chancellor Norman Lamont to remove the UK from the exchange rate mechanism.
The single market
On January 1, controls and customs duties were eliminated throughout the bloc. Thatcher praised the vision of “a single market without barriers, visible or invisible, giving you direct and unhindered access to the purchasing power of more than 300 million of the world’s richest and most prosperous people.”
Maastricht Treaty
Conservative rebels vote against the treaty that paved the way for the creation of the European Union. John Major won the vote the next day in a Pyrrhic victory.
Repairing the relationship
Tony Blair fixes the relationship. Adheres to the social charter and labor rights.
United Kingdom
Nigel Farage elected a MEP and immediately goes on the offensive in Brussels. “Our interests are best served if we are not members of this club,” he said in his inaugural address. “The playing field is almost as level as the decks of the Titanic after hitting an iceberg.”
The euro
Chancellor Gordon Brown decides that the UK will not join the euro.
The EU is expanding to include eight countries of the former eastern bloc, including Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
The EU expands again, allowing Romania and Bulgaria to join the club.
Migratory crisis
The anti-immigration hysteria seems to take hold with references to Katie Hopkins’ “cockroaches” in the Sun and tabloid headlines like “How many more can we take?” and “Calais Crisis: Send the Dogs”.
David Cameron returns from Brussels with an EU reform package, but it is not enough to appease the eurosceptic wing of his own party.
Brexit referendum
The UK votes to leave the European Union, triggering the resignation of David Cameron and paving the way for Theresa May to become Prime Minister.
Britain leaves the EU
After years of parliamentary stalemate during Theresa May’s attempt to reach a deal, the UK leaves the EU.
An EU diplomat said: “We are fast approaching a watershed moment in the Brexit talks. Intensive negotiations continue in London. As of this morning, it is still unclear whether negotiators can close the gaps on issues such as a level playing field, governance and fisheries.
“As we enter the end of the Brexit negotiations, some member states are getting a bit nervous. So this was primarily an exercise to calm nerves in Paris and elsewhere and to assure member states that the Barnier team will continue to defend the core interests of the EU, including fisheries. “
Several member states, including France, whose president, Emmanuel Macron, has repeatedly stressed the importance of protecting Europe’s fisheries, told Barnier they would rather restart negotiations in 2021 than rush to an agreement that would harm their coastal communities.
A source said: “Fish is getting to the heart of the discussions species by species. Barnier defended questions about whether the UK had moved enough on this issue, but they need to find a compromise that Macron can back to find a deal. “
David McAllister, the German MEP who heads the European parliament’s Brexit steering committee, said an agreement was urgently needed for the European parliament to give its consent before the end of the year.
He tweeted: “We are well aware that the work on level playing field and state aid has entered the final phase. This is the critical moment when principles need to be translated into rules and, more importantly, rules need to be guaranteed by a robust enforcement framework.
“We need to secure an agreement that addresses this and other pending issues in the area of governance and fisheries.
“Rapid progress is essential. An agreement needs to be reached within a few days if the council and parliament are to complete their respective procedures before the end of the transition period. Democratic scrutiny is not negotiable ”.
Meanwhile, the UK government has denied claims that it seeks to delay the implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol in the withdrawal agreement, including new customs controls on goods entering from Britain, due to difficulty in preparing. by the end of the transition period.
HMRC officials told MPs they “did not acknowledge” the overnight reports of an agreement to gradually introduce controls. They said that there would be a “light” operation and that some “grace” would be shown to companies that were not prepared.
At a Commons Committee hearing, it has emerged that British companies will have to complete 11 million customs declaration forms a year to sell their products in Northern Ireland for the first time.
Conservative MP Bob Stewart responded to the revelation during the Northern Ireland affairs selection committee with surprise. “Damn, that’s a lot,” he said.
Customs declarations must be made as part of the Northern Ireland protocol as of January 1, but a key software system, the Freight Vehicle Movement Service, will not undergo “end-to-end” testing with companies until on December 14, according to the committee.
