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A breakthrough has been made in Brexit negotiations on the rights of European fleets to fish in UK waters, EU sources said last night, leaving a Franco-German demand that the UK follow EU laws as the final hurdle to a historic trade and security deal.
Sources in Brussels said the two sides had almost finalized terms on the level of access for EU ships to the seas within the UK’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone, with a transition period for the gradual introduction of changes that are understood between five and seven years.
The talks are now on the rails over the so-called ‘ratchet clause’ under which the UK government would have to follow EU environmental, social and labor standards as they develop over time or face tariffs on UK exports. .
In an unwanted development for Boris Johnson, France and Germany have instructed EU Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier that they are united in the need for the UK to deal with the consequences of a future divergence from EU regulation as that changes politics.
The EU proposes that it should have the power to unilaterally impose tariffs on British exports in case Whitehall does not follow Brussels’ updates to its regulations.
UK sources said the negotiations would collapse unless demand fell within the next 48 hours.
Instead, British negotiators are offering to review the deal in an unspecified number of years to allow the terms of trade to change if there is a significant divergence.
A UK government source close to the negotiations said: “There will be no deal if the EU does not recognize reality. We will only keep talking if there is any movement and we think it makes sense ”.
Boris Johnson will speak with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday night, in what EU sources said was an important moment in the turbulent talks.
Talks resumed in Brussels on Sunday after Johnson and Von der Leyen agreed that there was reason to believe a deal was still possible during a phone call Saturday night.
The negotiation had been halted by the two main negotiators, David Frost and Barnier, on Friday after they were unable to close the gaps between the parties on rules to ensure fair competition, access to fishing in UK waters and a dispute resolution system.
“We are going to work very hard to try to reach an agreement,” Frost told reporters when he arrived at the Brussels-Midi train station on Sunday morning. “We will see what happens in the negotiations today and we hope to meet with our European colleagues later this afternoon.”
It is understood that the call between Johnson and Von der Leyen did not reach any political settlement on the pending issues, but that the prime minister managed to resolve his political difficulties to sell a deal linking Britain to Brussels.
Johnson will have to sell the deal to the Brexit hardliners of the European Research Group. On Sunday, its vice president, David Jones, said the ERG had “great confidence in David Frost and the team”, and the remaining sticking points appeared to be “an internal EU matter”.
Sources on both sides of the negotiation said that the issue of the “ratchet clause” was now the urgent issue, with the EU’s rights to catches in British fishing waters almost resolved. Neither party was willing to provide details of the agreement given the delicacy of the negotiation.
On Sunday, France’s European Affairs Minister Clément Beaune, a close ally of French President Emmanuel Macron, reiterated the threat of a French veto amid divisions among the 27 member states over the need for a deal this year, but it also hinted at a compromise on the thorniest issue.
“The British want to access the single European market without restrictions for their social, environmental or health standards, which is unacceptable,” he said. “For our part, we are ready to put in place a system in which a divergence of standards would be allowed but beyond which corrective measures would be taken.
“The British tell us that this is unfair because other third countries do not have the same limitations, such as Canada. But we have to realize that the UK will be our main trading partner outside the EU tomorrow. There is ten times more trade between the EU and the UK than with Canada. Therefore, it is normal to seek assurances that they will not incur unacceptable dumping. “
It is understood that Frost was informed of the comments during the talks at the European Commission headquarters in Berlaymont. Sources said the concession on divergence to some extent was welcome.
Negotiators are trying to come up with provisions that recognize that the UK is free to set its own rules, but also protect the single market for goods produced on a lower cost base due to differences in regulations.
Downing Street fears that allowing the EU to unilaterally impose tariffs on British goods where there is divergence would impose an inappropriate responsibility on Whitehall politicians to follow the example of Brussels.
The UK also has to accept non-regression on current standards on differences over the definition of “common high standards” and the means of correction when an agreement is breached.
Efforts are underway to find a compromise, but divisions have emerged between countries such as Germany and Ireland, who believe it is vital to sign an agreement this year, and the Elysee Palace.
Macron thinks it might be better to restart talks in 2021 than rush to a hasty deal that will push European companies back for decades to come.
“The British tell us they would only need 24 hours to do this [ratify]But we must also think about the time it will take to explain this agreement to our companies, ”said Beaune. “So, in the next few days, we will have to decide whether to continue negotiating or go ahead without an agreement. Because if this is the case, it is better to know now than at Christmas.
“Within the EU27 there are different sensitivities, it would be naive to deny it,” he said. “We will not give in to the pressure of time. As to [German] chancellor [Angela Merkel]He wants a deal, but he also defends our demands, and knows the European market well enough to guess how the German economy would be affected by a bad deal.
EU sources said Germany had agreed in the past 24 hours to support France’s position on fair competition, after Paris’s stance on access to fishing was softened.
Plans by the UK government to introduce legislation on Tuesday that would again violate international law by again invalidating the clauses of the agreement to remove tariffs on goods between Britain and Northern Ireland is seen as a natural deadline for a deal in Brussels. .
Ireland’s Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said the trade and security agreement covering more than 600 pages of legal text was “97% or 98%” adding that “we are more likely to get a deal than not.” .
