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Boris Johnson will travel to Brussels for decisive talks on a trade deal between the UK and the EU, with negotiations stalled and warnings that there is “every chance” of failure.
The British prime minister will meet Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, “in the next few days”, when nine months of talks on a post-Brexit relationship between the two sides come to a head.
“We have not made any tangible progress,” said a senior British official. “It is clear that this must now continue politically. Although we do not consider that this process is closed, things are very complicated and there is a good chance that we will not get there ”.
Mr. Johnson and Ms. Von der Leyen agreed on Monday, after a 45-minute phone call, that their top negotiators should “prepare an overview of the remaining differences to discuss in person.”
Times have not been confirmed, but the meeting could take place on Wednesday before Thursday’s European Council meeting in Brussels. Both sides said Johnson will not attend the 27-country summit.
The number 10 downplayed the idea that scheduling face-to-face conversations could be a positive sign. An ally of the prime minister said: “The differences are as great as before.”
The fact that the talks are continuing despite disagreements over fair competition “level playing field”, fisheries and the governance of any trade deal offered some hope that a deal was still possible.
But Ireland’s foreign minister said there has been “no progress whatsoever” in two days of intense talks since they resumed on Sunday, and said other EU member states were “becoming increasingly frustrated”.
“In Brussels, no doubt, the mood is beginning to shift to contingency planning for a no-deal,” Simon Coveney told RTE television after arriving in Dublin from talks in Brussels.
Johnson’s allies have made it clear that the prime minister is willing to walk away from the talks, but Downing Street said he remains “willing” to strike a free trade agreement on the right terms.
People briefed on Johnson-Von der Leyen’s call said both sides felt it was time for talks at the political level © Andrew Parsons / No10 Downing Street
The call between Mr. Johnson and Ms. Von der Leyen was not intended to be an opportunity to close deals on key points of friction, but rather to take stock of the existing positions of the two parties. Officials on both sides of the negotiations were pessimistic about the significant divisions that remain in key areas of the negotiations and made no predictions about the likelihood of a deal.
Things remain “very difficult”, said an EU official. The fact that Mr Johnson came to Brussels showed that “things are not falling off the cliff, but we have not solved the problems in the last days that the negotiators were here. It shows that more work needs to be done. “
Officials from both sides emphasized that it was not surprising that Johnson was the traveling leader, given that the two leaders’ last face-to-face meeting was in London.
People briefed on the call said both parties felt it was time for talks at the political level and Ms Von der Leyen suggested that she should be the host after going to Downing Street earlier this year.
The independent Office for Budgetary Responsibility warned that a no-deal Brexit on January 1 would cause a 2 per cent hit on the UK economy, around £ 40bn, and add around 300,000 to the total jobless next year.
The British pound fell as much as 1.6 percent against the US dollar to hit a two-week low just above $ 1.32, before rebounding later in the day, leaving it 0.8 percent lower at $ 1.33 late in the afternoon in London.
People briefed on the talks said negotiators on Monday had sought to address the continuing deep-seated divisions over fishing rights in UK waters and the “level playing field” for companies.
On fisheries, a problem with Monday’s talks was the continued resistance of the United Kingdom to guarantee access for European vessels to its waters 6-12 nautical miles from the coast, as well as the duration of a transition period covers the most remote fishing grounds.
The level playing field splits concern the EU’s determination to secure means of obtaining speedy redress against the UK if it seeks to gain an unfair competitive advantage through the use of subsidies or through weaker environmental and labor regulations.
Early Monday, Johnson tried to ease the sadness hanging over the talks by offering to remove controversial law-breaking clauses from UK law in relation to Northern Ireland.
Johnson said that if the two sides reached an agreement on the operation of the NI protocol, part of the EU’s withdrawal agreement from Britain, the contentious clauses would not be necessary.
Although welcome in Brussels, an EU diplomat said the move amounted to the UK “trying to use dishonest behavior as leverage”.
Johnson had insisted on the clauses of the UK Internal Market Bill as a “safety net” to ensure the free flow of goods between the mainland UK and Northern Ireland should London and Brussels fail to reach an understanding of how to apply last year’s agreement. and trade negotiations failed.
Ministers admitted that the clauses would allow ministers to violate international law, as the legislation would nullify Britain’s withdrawal treaty with the EU; the topic has haunted trade talks ever since.
