Published 06:14 IST, July 26th 2020
Brexit: After failure of recent talks, Germany's Merkel reprimands UK administration
After the failure of the most recent round of Brexit talks, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has asked the Boris Johnson-led government to show more 'realism'.
- World News
- 2 min read
Amid ongoing trade and security talks with the United Kingdom, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has asked the Boris Johnson-led government to show more 'realism' during the negotiations. As per reports, Merkle’s statements come after Michel Barnier provided an update to the ambassadors of the 27 member states.
Germany unhappy with stalled negotiations
The German Chancellor's comments have come as a blow to Downing Street that reportedly hope Merkel and other leaders would assist in the negotiations which have been practically stalled for months. The latest talks between EU negotiators and their British counterparts concluded on July 23 wherein both parties were unable to decide on an outline of Britain's divorce deal with the European Union.
According to reports, Barnier told the assembled leaders that a deal with the UK this year was very ‘unlikely’ and added that the European Union would be open to revisiting some issues next year in the hopes that separate agreements could be signed.
The two main areas that are reported to have been causing problems in the negotiations are the access of the European Fishing fleet in British waters and mutual assurances ensuring that neither side can undercut the other by lowering regulatory standards or unfairly subsidising the industry.
Eight European Union member states with the greatest interest in fishing have repeatedly made it clear to the rest of the bloc that they will not accept any deal without access to the fisheries.
UK ‘clueless’ about Russia's role in Brexit
Earlier, UK lawmakers accused the government of a ‘lack of curiosity’ when it comes to digging deeper into the allegations surrounding Russia's interference in British politics, especially the Brexit elections.
According to international media, the British Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee long-awaited report, detailing the events of 2016 Brexit elections was supposed to shed more light on the subject but citing lack of information, the committee said it unable to come to a concrete conclusion.
Updated 06:14 IST, July 26th 2020