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Prime Minister Boris Johnson has insisted that a post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union is “to be done” as the end of the transition period looms.
An agreement should be reached in mid-November to allow time for ratification, but talks have stalled in recent months and both sides are struggling to reach an agreement on at least two main points.
The main negotiators, Michel Barnier for the EU and David Frost for the UK, will resume talks in London this week.
Upon arrival in London on Sunday, Barnier said he was “very happy to be back” and “work continues” to reach an agreement.
Boris Johnson says he told European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen: ‘We just have to go ahead and do it if we can.’
Speaking before the talks, Johnson said: “I have always been a huge fan of a trade deal with our European friends and partners.
“I think it remains to be done, the general lines are quite clear. We just have to go ahead and do it if we can. And I said that to (European Commission President) Ursula Von der Leyen yesterday. And she totally agrees with me. . “
The main obstacles to an agreement are the guarantees of fair competition, especially with regard to state aid rules; and fishing, a symbolic sector for Brexit supporters.
Movement comes later Johnson and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen spoke by phone on Saturday to “take stock” on the progress of the stop-start negotiations, and both acknowledge that “significant differences” persist.
Another source of conflict between the two sides is Johnson’s determination to go ahead with a controversial bill, despite warnings from US President-elect Joe Biden.
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The internal market bill, which will be voted on by peers this week, will override the clauses in the Withdrawal Agreement that relate to Northern Ireland.
The government has already admitted that it violates international law.
Biden, who has Irish heritage, said in September that the Good Friday Agreement should not be “a victim of Brexit”, adding that a trade agreement between the United Kingdom and the United States would depend on the agreement being honored.
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Johnson said: “The purpose of that bill, and indeed Finance, is to protect and defend the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process in Northern Ireland.
“And again, that’s one of the things that we are united in with our friends in the White House.”
Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer wrote in The Guardian: “If the government is serious about restoring its relationship with the United States, then it should take a first step and abandon these proposals.”
