Boris Johnson Raises Hopes for Brexit Breakthrough in EU Trade Talks as Deadline Approaches

Boris Johnson declared last night that “there is every opportunity for a deal” as he raised hopes that a Brexit trade deal with the EU will be reached.

The prime minister dropped his warning that No Deal is the most likely outcome, as negotiators revealed that fishing quotas are the last hurdle.

MPs and colleagues will rise for Christmas recess today, but have been told they could be pulled as little as 48 hours in advance to approve a deal if a deal is reached.

Downing Street said a Commons vote could take place as early as Monday, although authorities have made the week between Christmas and New Years more likely.

The prime minister dropped his warning that no deal is the most likely outcome, as negotiators revealed that fishing quotas are the last hurdle.

MPs and colleagues will rise today for Christmas recess, but have been told they could be pulled as little as 48 hours in advance to approve a deal if a deal is reached. In the photo: the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen

The government has drawn up plans to speed up the passage of legislation in Parliament in just a couple of days, even sitting for longer hours.

Negotiating teams in Brussels are now trying to reach an agreement on fishing quotas, while putting the final touches on a joint mechanism to deal with disputes if the UK and the EU in the future want to change the rules on fishing. labor, environment and state subsidies.

A source close to last night’s conversations said: “The general mood is more positive, but everything could collapse in the fish.”

EU officials said the teams of British negotiator Lord Frost and his EU counterpart Michel Barnier have not yet been able to agree on foreign ships’ access to British waters. “I don’t have the impression that we are achieving anything in fishing,” said a French source.

In the prime minister’s questions yesterday, Johnson took a much more optimistic tone just days after warning that Britain and the EU were highly likely to fail to reach a trade deal.

He told MPs: ‘There is every opportunity, every hope that I have, that our friends and partners across the Channel will make sense and make a deal.

“And all they need is for them to understand that the UK has a natural right, like any other country, to want to be able to control its own laws and its own fishing grounds.” When he appeared at the Downing Street press conference yesterday afternoon, Johnson declined the opportunity to repeat his warning about the likelihood of no deal.

When asked if it was still his point of view, it was the most likely outcome, he replied: ‘Well again, that’s a matter for our friends, they know what the parameters are and we just have to make sure we control our laws and control our own waters. ‘

In a Zoom call with Tory MPs last night, Johnson joked: “The only thing mandatory for Brussels next year will be sprouts on the Christmas table because we will have left the orbit of the ECJ (European Court of Justice).”

In Brussels, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that there is a “path” towards an agreement, but admitted that it is “very narrow”.

The senior EU official indicated that it is in fisheries where the two parties remain furthest apart.

“We do not question the sovereignty of the UK in its own waters,” he said. “But we ask for predictability and stability for our fishermen and our fisherwomen.

“And, in all honesty, it sometimes feels like we won’t be able to resolve this issue.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the European Commission and the UK will continue to speak “until the end of this week.”

Downing Street warned MPs last night to rush back in case of a breakthrough. “Parliament has long shown that it can move at a good pace and the country would expect no less,” said No. 10.