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Downing Street has watered down a key demand on post-Brexit fishing rights as part of a broader compromise, EU sources said, as Germany’s ambassador in Brussels said there was a possibility of a deal by the weekend. .
The UK stopped pushing for fishing vessels operating under the UK flag to be majority British-owned in the future, it was claimed.
It came when Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the Commons who is responsible for its calendar, suggested that it was “theoretically possible” that MPs could be asked to pass a trade deal retrospectively.
“I haven’t heard anyone speak about ratification after December 31,” he said on a ConservativeHome podcast. But Boris Johnson’s spokesman later said this would not happen: “We are confident that all necessary UK national legislation required by 1 January will be in place by the end of the transition period.”
As talks on a trade and safety deal continued, it is understood that the UK government’s attempt to ‘renationalize’ now UK-flagged vessels and which will enjoy a boost in their catches of the new ones, has been resolved. fishing deals next year.
European-owned vessels with British colors should operate under UK standards rather than EU regulations. They would also need to significantly increase the percentage of the catches landing in British ports. One source said the UK now wanted 100% of the catch landed in the UK, rather than 70% as previously suggested, but government sources could not confirm the details.
It is understood that the ownership rules are likely to be different for vessels now flying the UK flag and those operating under British colors in the future.
The fishing vessel issue had caused problems with Spain and the Netherlands, whose citizens have invested in UK-flagged vessels since the 1990s, and its resolution is an important step towards agreeing on a deal, although sources of both parties said serious problems remain.
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier told MEPs on Monday that he, in turn, had committed himself to the “architecture” of the fisheries deal and had accepted that there would be a transition period to introduce changes.
But there is no agreement on the proportion of the EU catches in UK waters that will be repatriated or whether the European fleet will be able to fish in waters six to 12 miles off the UK coast.
Beyond fishing, the two parties are also unable to agree on the terms of the UK’s participation in the EU Erasmus student exchange program.
The UK only wants to fund student exchanges and opt out of “cooperative actions” through which top-level university academics from across Europe come together to share ideas. Barnier has told representatives in Brussels that the UK is “picking the cherry.”
Despite outstanding issues, Germany’s ambassador to the EU, Michael Clauss, told a group of experts on Tuesday that a deal by the end of this week was still feasible.
He said, “It is not over yet. We still have a couple of days left, so we’ll see. The end of the year has not yet come and I think there is still the possibility of reaching an agreement, perhaps by the end of this week. There is at least one possibility. “
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said there were signs in Brussels that the talks were at a decisive stage. He said: “I think what we are seeing this week, having had several positions in this process, is slow, but at the same time something, progress.
“I understand that we are making progress in that area [the level playing field]. I think you can understand that because the negotiating teams have been very quiet here, that is an indication to me that there is a serious, albeit difficult, negotiation underway. I’m still hopeful that it can result in a successful outcome agreement. “
On Monday, Barnier said a “narrow path” to a post-Brexit trade and security deal was possible. If no agreement is reached by this weekend, the European Parliament will not have time to analyze and vote on it. But speaking to the European MSP committee in the Scottish Parliament, Cabinet Minister Michael Gove said this should not lead to an accidental no-deal exit.
He said: “There is something that the EU has called provisional application, which means that if a treaty is agreed, they can choose to apply it from the beginning and the European Parliament can then approve it … The UK parliament can still make sure that ratify an agreement before December 31, and the EU has its own processes to ensure that the agreement is in place. “
