Businesses plead for Brexit deal as trade talks remain stuck

British trucking firms, supermarkets and or businesses on Friday implored government to strike a last-minute tre deal with European Union, as two sides’ leers told ir citizens to brace for New Year upheaval in U.K.-EU tring relationship.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said re is a “strong possibility” that negotiations on a new ecomic relationship to take effect Jan. 1 will fail. Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have set a Sunday deline to decide wher to keep talking or prepare for a -deal break.

“We have t yet found solutions to bridge our differences,” von der Leyen said Friday at an EU summit in Brussels. “We will decide on Sunday wher we have conditions for an agreement or t.” Eir way, she said, “in less than three weeks, it will be new beginnings for old friends.”

Britain left EU on Jan. 31 but has continued to follow bloc’s rules during a transition period that lasts until end of year. Months of talks on a future tre deal have failed to bridge gaps on three issues — fishing rights, fair-competition rules and governance of future disputes.

While both sides want a deal, y have fundamentally different views of what it entails. EU fears Britain will slash social and environmental standards and pump state money into U.K. industries, becoming a low-regulation ecomic rival on bloc’s doorstep, so is demanding strict “level playing field” guarantees in exchange for access to its markets. U.K. government claims EU is trying to bind Britain to bloc’s rules indefinitely, rar than treating it as an independent nation.

British Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said Friday that a deal was “90% of way re” but that government would t accept an agreement at any price. A -deal split would bring overnight tariffs and or barriers that would hurt both sides, although most ecomists think British ecomy would take a greater hit because U.K. does almost half of its tre with bloc.

Ahe of year-end deline re are alrey extra long tailbacks of trucks on both sides of English Channel as U.K. companies try to lay in extra stock in case of disruption. Britain’s Office for Budget Responsibility says a -deal Brexit would slash 2% off U.K. gross domestic product in 2021, on top of dam done by coronavirus pandemic. Supermarkets say food prices will rise, with 85% of foods imported from EU expected to face tariffs of more than 5%, according to British Retail Consortium.

To cushion some of shock of a -deal split, EU has proposed contingency measures to make sure that air and ro traffic can continue for six months after Jan. 1. It also proposes that fishermen should still have access to each or’s waters for up to a year.

plans depend on U.K. offering similar initiatives. British government said it would “look closely” at proposals.Lawmaker Tobias Ellwood, a member of Johnson’s Conservative Party, urged two sides to show “political cour” and reach a deal.“Let’s t walk away and cause a -deal that would be devastating to t just Britain but to European Union as well,” he told BBC.

(Im Credit: AP)