Brexit trade talks difficult as EU and UK still split on key issues
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[December 23, 2020]
By Guy Faulconbridge and Gabriela Baczynska
LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain and the
European Union remained divided over competition and fishing on
Wednesday as they tried to clinch a Brexit trade deal in time to avoid a
turbulent split at the end of the year.
Ireland said a deal was still possible before Britain leaves the EU's
orbit on Dec. 31, 11 months after it formally quit the bloc and entered
a transition period keeping it in the bloc's customs union and single
market until the year ends.
But with a dizzying array of conflicting signals coming from the two
sides, Britain has not yet managed to agree a deal that would ease the
pain of its departure by keeping in place zero-tariff and zero-quota
access to the single market.
British Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick told Sky News that "at the
moment there isn't sufficient progress" at the talks.
Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said the gap on how much fish EU
boats could catch in British waters was still wide, but that he believed
there should be a deal given the economic shock that failure would
trigger.
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"On balance, I think given the progress that has been made that there
should be a deal," Martin told national broadcaster RTE. "A no-deal
would be an appalling shock to the economic system on top of COVID-19."
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President
Ursula von der Leyen are in close contact and were expected to hold
another call on Wednesday.
British sources said talks remained "difficult" and underscored the
differences. EU sources were more upbeat.
The British pound rose, as did midcap stocks. Investors expect swings in
the currency as overnight volatility was holding above 25%.
Johnson, who is also grappling with a deepening COVID-19 outbreak and a
border crisis at Europe's busiest truck port, has said he will not sign
up to any deal that undermines British sovereignty.
Walking away from the talks might win applause from many Brexit
supporters in Britain but could cause severe disruptions to goods trade
which makes up half of annual EU-UK commerce, worth nearly a trillion
dollars in all.
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![](../images/122320PIX/news_u43.jpg)
Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
Robert Jenrick arrives on Downing Street, following the outbreak of
the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), London, Britain, June 9, 2020.
REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo
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DEAL TIME?
Britain, which joined the EU's precursor in 1973, has often had
stormy relations with the countries in the Franco-German led project
which sought to bind the ruined nations of post-World War Two Europe
into a global power.
The scale of possible Brexit disruption has been laid bare by France
closing its borders to Britain for 48 hours, citing a new
coronavirus variant. This left thousands of European truckers
stranded in southern England and disrupted food supplies.
The EU is making a "final push" to strike a trade deal though rifts
over fishing rights remain, EU negotiator Michel Barnier said on
Tuesday.
Ireland's Martin said that if there was a breakthrough on Wednesday
or Thursday, officials in Europe could be working on the text on
Christmas Day.
"I'm still reasonably optimistic but there's no news to report to
you this morning," Britain's Jenrick said. "There's still the same
serious areas of disagreement whether that's on fisheries or the
level playing field."
Level playing field is trade jargon for ensuring fair competition.
EU leaders fear that after Brexit the United Kingdom could ease
regulation to undercut others and gouge EU market share. Enforcement
is an important issue.
Beside competition, the sides are haggling over how much EU
fishermen can catch in Britain's waters: essentially how many sole,
sand eels and mackerel EU boats can fish per year, where and how to
renew such agreements.
Barnier told EU envoys on Tuesday that Britain's latest offer on
sharing out the fish catch from British waters from 2021 was
"totally unacceptable", according to EU diplomats.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, Kate Holton, Sujata Rao, Elizabeth
Piper, Gabriela Baczynska, Michael Shields, Padraic Halpin; editing
by Michael Holden, Kirsten Donovan and Timothy Heritage)
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