Boris Johnson, EU Chief negotiators seek to break Brexit impasse on Dec 7

UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed to hold talks on December 7 to break the Brexit impasse and unlock a deal to felicitate trade and security relations between the UK and the rest of the EU. While Britain exited the European Union on January 31, PM Johnson is yet to reach an agreement for post-Brexit trade with respect to four crucial areas of the negotiations: a level playing field for fisheries activities, freedom of competition, the handling of future relations, and police and judicial cooperation on criminal matters.

While it's crucial that a trade agreement has to be reached by the UK at the latest before December 31, 2020, the EU Chief negotiator said, “Differences remain. No agreement feasible if these are not resolved.” Further, in a release, the European Parliament stressed that no deal by end of 2020 would imply reintroduction of customs duties and border controls, which would “inevitably have negative repercussions for the competitiveness of Europe’s SME.”

British PM Boris Johnson was scheduled to speak to Michel Barnier, the EU’s lead negotiator’s counterpart David Frost and EU officials. However, the negotiations were postponed to Monday, and the talks were stalled. President Ursula von der Leyen informed in a live-streamed statement, that the Chief negotiators will “reconvene tomorrow".

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In earlier negotiations in London, none of the conditions of the agreement were met as European Commission informed in a statement, “After one week of intense negotiations in London, the two chief negotiators agreed today that the conditions for an agreement are not met, due to significant divergences on the level playing field, governance and fisheries.” Moreover, in contradictory statements, while British officials dismissed negotiations as reaching “difficult points”, EU leaders asserted that the bloc was on the brink of a deal. 

'Canada-style' free trade deal

With fresh negotiations in the pipeline, the UK’s deal governing almost $1 trillion of annual trade has barely been progressive since the last dialogue with the EU counterparts, as France’s demands over fishing rights in British seas was objected to by the UK. PM Johnson reminded France that the 2016 Brexit referendum result was a vote to “take back control” and the EU must respect Britain’s sovereignty. However, the EU had argued that the UK’s proximity to the EU bloc makes a “Canada-style” free trade deal far-fetched, and with the absence of an agreement, UK stands compliant to World Trade Organization terms that’s likely to surge business tariffs once the transition period concluded. The British and EU officials seek new impetus for the talks, related to fisheries discord with France and other future disputes."

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(Image Credit: AP)