Britain’s chief Brexit negotiator, David Frost, warned that the talks’ progress is “stalled and time is running out” as leaders on both sides downplay expectations that a deal will be reached.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday evening, saying that the talks were in a “serious situation” and would fail unless the EU defined its position on fisheries, which he described as “not. reasonable “, would soften. “
Von der Leyen, for her part, warned that “big differences” remain, especially in fishing, and that “bridging them will be a major challenge.”
Despite that pessimistic rhetoric, officials in Brussels expressed confidence that another deal could be struck before next week. Behind the scenes, the conversations are progressing, and such negative language is to be expected at this stage, both as a negotiating tactic and to manage expectations at home, they said.
There is often an element of theater at the end of the negotiations, Irish Deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar told RTE on Thursday. He said he was on the “optimistic” side of a 50:50 chance of a deal. The discussions continue on Friday.
In New York, the pound cut its gains against the dollar to just 0.3%, falling below the London low of 1.3560, as traders praised in the leaders’ comments.
The talks examine what rights EU boats will have to fish in UK waters after Brexit. The issue has minimal economic impact – industry represents only 0.1% of the UK’s gross domestic product – but is of great political importance.
The other major obstacle to a deal, the level playing field, which seemed likely to break negotiations for months, has not been completely resolved, but the two sides are much closer together, officials from both sides said.
State aid
For several weeks, the UK has been objecting to the EU’s plan to exempt funding for the central bloc, including the € 750 billion ($ 920 billion) pandemic relief package, from any restriction on state aid, a UK official said.
Johnson said the UK was “making every effort to meet reasonable EU requests on a level playing field, but while the gap had narrowed, some fundamental areas remained difficult.”
Johnson told von der Leyen that the EU’s position on fisheries “was simply not reasonable and if an agreement was to be reached, it would have to shift significantly,” his agency said. “The UK could not accept a situation where it was the only sovereign country in the world that could not control access to its own waters for an extended period of time.”
The two sides compete over how long a transition period will be before new fishing rules and quotas come into effect. The UK has been pushing for three years; the EU wants longer. They also still argue over precise quota numbers and how often they should be renegotiated.
Sunday Deadline?
On Thursday, the European Parliament stepped up pressure by setting officials a Sunday deadline to reach a deal that would be ratified in time for the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31.
While EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier told MEPs that a deal was “possible” Friday, people familiar with the negotiations said they expected talks to last until the weekend.
In London, Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove told a House of Lords committee that negotiations could continue even after Christmas. He said the EU could provisionally apply any agreement, delaying the approval of the European Parliament until 2021.
– With the help of Dara Doyle
(Addition talks continue Friday, Ireland’s Varadkar in fifth paragraph.)