LDN - Other News

EU tells UK to make up its mind as trade talks near climax

[December 04, 2020] By Gabriela Baczynska and John Chalmers

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union told Britain on Friday it was time to decide what kind of future relationship it wanted as EU officials suggested negotiators could strike a post-Brexit trade deal as early as the weekend.

With less than four weeks left until the United Kingdom finally leaves the EU's orbit on Dec. 31, talks snagged late on Thursday, prompting London to signal that chances of a breakthrough were receding.

Ultimately, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the face of the 2016 Brexit referendum campaign who is now grappling with Europe's highest official COVID-19 death toll, will have to decide whether he and Britain would be better off making compromises or walking away.

For weeks, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier and his British counterpart David Frost have been discussing fisheries, state aid and how to resolve future disputes so that an overall agreement governing almost $1 trillion of annual trade can proceed.

As talks go down to the wire, an EU official told Reuters that a deal was "imminent" while another official suggested that a deal was days away.

One of the officials said the 27 EU leaders might have a separate gathering on Brexit this month, most likely after a summit already scheduled for Dec. 10-11.

"The real question is - Which political, economic, social project do they want for their own future?" European Council President Charles Michel said. "And this is a question for the British government and for the British people."

Barnier, who is in London for talks, said Friday was an important day. A spokesman for the EU said that, with "intensive negotiations" continuing, a plan for Barnier to brief the bloc's ambassadors in Brussels on the state of play had been cancelled.

"With Barnier staying there, it means talks haven't collapsed," said an EU diplomat. "It's a good sign they are still pushing."

TRANSITION PERIOD ENDING

As investors tried to fathom from conflicting rhetoric whether the talks were close to the finish line or in serious trouble, a gauge of how volatile the pound is expected to be over the next week rose to its highest level since March.

Britain formally left the EU on Jan. 31 but has been in a transition period since then under which rules on trade, travel and business remain unchanged. From the end of the year, it will be treated by Brussels as a third country.

[to top of second column]

EU flag are placed on broken glass and British flag in this illustration picture taken January 31, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

If the two sides fail to reach a deal, the five-year Brexit divorce will end in disorder just as Europe grapples with the vast economic cost of the COVID-19 outbreak.

A no-deal exit is the nightmare scenario for businesses and investors, who say it would snarl borders, spook financial markets and sow chaos through supply chains that stretch across Europe and beyond.

A British government source said the EU had disrupted talks late on Thursday by trying to force further concessions.

"At the 11th hour, the EU is bringing new elements into the negotiation. A breakthrough is still possible in the next few days but that prospect is receding," the source said.

French European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune told Europe 1 Radio there was still a risk that talks would fail but added: "I want to tell our fishermen, our producers, the citizens who are listening that we will not accept a deal with bad terms.

"If a good agreement cannot be reached, we will oppose it. Each country has a veto right, so it is possible ... We will do our own evaluation of this draft deal, if there is one."

EU sources said discussions centred around the "level playing field", meaning agreed principles on state aid and minimum labour and environmental standards, as well as the "effective remedies" that each side could take in case of suspected infringements.

"We are at a critical phase," Business Secretary Alok Sharma told Sky TV. "It is fair to say that we are in a difficult phase, there are some tricky issues still to be resolved."

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, Kate Holton, Elizabeth Piper in London, Dominique Vidalon in Paris, and John Chalmers and Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Back to top