The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, gave themselves Wednesday, December 9 until Sunday to arrive at a “Firm decision on the future of the discussions” post-Brexit, a source told Downing Street.
The positions of London and the European Union (EU) remain “Very distant” to reach a post-Brexit agreement, estimated the President of the European Commission, after a meeting of more than three hours with Boris Johnson. “We agreed that the negotiating teams must meet immediately to try to resolve the essential issues”, she said in a statement, giving herself up to “The end of the weekend” to decide the fate of the talks.
“Very large gaps remain between the two sides and it is not yet clear whether these can be bridged. The Prime Minister and Mme von der Leyen agreed to continue discussions over the next few days between their negotiating teams ”, said a British source. They “Agreed that by Sunday a firm decision should be taken on the future of the negotiations”, she added.
Months of talks without progress
Mr Johnson arrived at the European Commission around 8 p.m. He first spoke one-on-one with Mr.me von der Leyen, before having dinner in the presence of a dozen guests, including the British negotiators, David Frost, and the European, Michel Barnier. Before their dinner, the two leaders briefly took off their anti-Covid masks, the time for a photo in front of the British and European flags, before launching “Let’s go! “ in French, smile.
The summit meeting came just three weeks before the final split between London and the EU, after months of talks without progress and faced with the increased threat of failure with serious economic consequences. The objective of the meeting, on the eve of a European summit in Brussels, was to see if the most important obstacles could be lifted but “Not to tie up the negotiation definitively”, underlined Brussels.
Boris Johnson – who found a town where he had been the correspondent of Daily Telegraph in the 90s – had felt before the meeting still possible to arrive at a ” good agreement “, despite the demands of Brussels that“No prime minister should accept”. Whatever the outcome of the negotiations, he promises that his country – which officially left the EU on January 31 – ” will be ready “ on December 31, when he will definitely leave the customs union and the single market. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, also wants to believe that there is “Still a chance”.
Three points of disagreement
London and Brussels are still stuck on three subjects, the same since March: European access to British waters, how to settle disputes in the future agreement and the guarantees demanded of London by the EU in terms of competition in exchange for access without customs duties or quotas to its market.
The question of a level playing field is the thorniest, but “Not the only one” to solve, said a European source. The EU, which fears seeing the emergence of a deregulated economy at its doorstep, wants London to make a long-term commitment to respect a certain convergence on the environment, labor law, tax transparency or public aid. The British refused, in the name of their regained sovereignty.
“We must have fair conditions, not only for today, but also for tomorrow and the day after tomorrow”, summarized Angela Merkel. In response, Mr Johnson’s spokesperson pointed out that the UK had “Clearly indicated” his intention to maintain “High standards”. But the Europeans want guarantees.
The meeting in Brussels took place on the eve of a summit of the Twenty-Seven, where Brexit will be one of the hot topics. France has warned it will veto a deal that sacrifices its fishermen. “We will know how to say no if we have to say no”, repeated the French Minister of the Sea, Annick Girardin.
In case of failure, exchanges between London and the EU will take place from 1er January only according to the rules of the World Trade Organization, synonymous with customs duties or quotas, at the risk of a new shock for economies already weakened by the coronavirus.
If concluded, the trade deal – over 700 pages long – will still have to be ratified by the British and European Parliaments before entering into force, a challenge given the short time remaining.
