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The
United Kingdom leaves the EU's orbit on Dec. 31, when a
transition period of informal membership ends following its
formal departure last January, and the sides are trying to
secure a deal to govern nearly $1 trillion in annual trade.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is also tackling Europe's
worst official death toll from COVID-19, says a deal would be
preferable but that Britain, which joined the EU in 1973, would
flourish without one.
Talks in London over the weekend were "quite difficult" and
"massive divergences" remain on the most thorny elements of
fisheries, economic fair play and settling disputes, an EU
source said.
Johnson's spokesman said there had been some progress but "there
still remains divergence on issues (such as) fisheries and the
level playing field."
"We want to try and reach a free trade agreement as soon as
possible but we've been clear we won't change our negotiating
position," the spokesman said.
After breaking multiple deadlines, the negotiators are stuck
mainly on fishing, state aid and how to resolve any future
disputes.
A trade deal would not only safeguard trade but also buttress
peace in British-ruled Northern Ireland, though some disruption
is almost certain at the busiest EU-UK border points.
Failure to secure a deal would snarl borders, spook financial
markets and disrupt delicate supply chains that stretch across
Europe and beyond -- just as the world grapples with the vast
economic cost of the COVID-19 outbreak.
FISH
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said it was a significant
week for Brexit. Talks between EU chief negotiator Michel
Barnier and British chief negotiator David Frost continued on
Monday.
Asked whether there was reason for optimism, Barnier told
reporters: "There are reasons for determination."
"We are running out of time here," said Irish Foreign Minister
Simon Coveney, whose country is in the EU. "The truth of Brexit
is now being exposed in terms of the challenges of it."
Coveney said a deal could be done if there was give and take on
both sides but told Ireland's Newstalk Radio that a failure to
agree on fishing rights could wreck a deal.
"If there isn't an agreement on this, the whole thing could fall
on the back of it and that's the worry," he said.
Fishing alone contributed just 0.03% of British economic output
in 2019, but it is an emotive subject as many Brexit supporters
see it as a symbol of the regained sovereignty they hope leaving
the EU will bring. Combined with fish and shellfish processing,
the sector makes up 0.1% of UK GDP.
Britain wants "zonal attachment" to agree a total allowable
catch for the United Kingdom's waters - a step that would give
it a much larger quota share than if the fish maths were worked
out on the EU's proposals.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, Kate Holton and Elizabeth Piper
in London; Conor Humphries in Dublin and Gabriela Baczynska and
John Chalmers in Brussels; editing by William Maclean, Larry
King and Timothy Heritage)
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