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Boris Johnson will travel to Brussels for a face-to-face summit with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a last-minute attempt to break the deadlock in Brexit negotiations, raising hopes for a deal on a business and security agreement. .
A long-awaited decisive meeting will be held in the “coming days”, the two leaders said in a joint statement after a 90-minute call, with sources on both sides pointing to Wednesday as the most likely date.
Johnson had asked for a break from the phone call to confirm with his aides, including his chief negotiator, David Frost, that there was reason enough to make the trip.
EU sources said it was not necessary for him to make a second call to Von der Leyen to discuss next steps, as Downing Street agreed that a decisive summit in Brussels was worth holding.
“We agreed that the conditions to finalize an agreement are not there due to the significant differences that remain on three critical issues: a level playing field, governance and fisheries,” said the leaders. “We ask our chief negotiators and their teams to prepare an overview of the remaining differences for discussion at a physical meeting in Brussels in the coming days.”
Hours earlier, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier had told MEPs that the talks “were not far from the end”, warning that he would not continue beyond Wednesday.
Both sides will need time to ratify any agreement, and Downing Street has said it would hold a vote on Wednesday on new legislation that nullifies the withdrawal agreement, a move that could break the agreement.
A senior EU diplomat said: “The outcome is still uncertain, it can still go both ways. The EU is ready to go the extra mile to agree on a fair, sustainable and balanced deal for the citizens of the EU and the UK. The UK must choose between such a positive outcome or a no-deal outcome. “
The focus of the negotiation remains to maintain fair competition over time, the EU’s access to British fishing waters and a dispute resolution system if the terms of the treaty are breached.
EU leaders will meet on Thursday, when they could sign a deal or activate their preparations for a no-deal outcome, including temporary legislation to keep planes in the air.
Progress on the problems of accessing the EU fleets to British fishing waters, as reported by The Guardian, was turned upside down on Sunday night when Frost filed new lawsuits over the ownership of ships in British seas. Under the proposals, no majority-owned ship could sail under the UK flag, sources in Brussels said.
Currently, vessels only need an “economic link” with the UK, such as landing more than half of their catches in British ports or having mostly British crews. Companies based in Iceland, Spain and the Netherlands caught 55% of the UK’s fishing quota in 2019, according to research published this year.
EU sources had said the two sides were close to a deal early Sunday, but Barnier stifled any optimism, telling ambassadors and MEPs Monday morning that the negotiation was “difficult”, as the new British demand explained. . A senior EU diplomat said: “This has really caused a lot of problems. A document was delivered late on Sunday night. This is serious.”
Barnier said differences also remain over the quota numbers and the UK’s intention to block access to the six to 12-mile zone, seas in which the French and Belgian fleets in particular have fished for centuries. “That is worrying at this stage of the negotiation,” he said.
Barnier said the issue of “non-regression” of current standards had progressed well, but common ground had yet to be found in the EU’s demand for a mechanism to ensure a baseline of environmental, social and labor standards. minimums that both parties increase over time. The issue was fast becoming the biggest obstacle to a deal, EU diplomats said.
Barnier told the ambassadors that he was optimistic that an agreement would be reached on dispute resolution. Downing Street still disagreed with provisions that would allow one party to suspend parts of the deal, known as a “cross-suspension clause,” but was confident of finding a solution, Barnier said.
