TLTP
LONDON
London and Brussels have agreed to “go the extra mile” in coming days to try to reach an elusive trade agreement despite missing their latest deadline to avert a turbulent exit for Britain from the European Union’s orbit at the end of the month.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the president of the EU’s executive Commission, Ursula von der Leyen had given negotiators a Sunday deadline to find a way to resolve an impasse on arrangements that would guarantee Britain zero-tariff and zero-quota access to the EU’s single market.
It is pertinent to mention that during this Sunday they mandated negotiators to continue, although Johnson sounded a downbeat note on prospects for a breakthrough. “Despite the exhaustion after almost a year of negotiations, despite the fact that deadlines have been missed over and over we think it is responsible at this point to go the extra mile,” Johnson and von der Leyen said in a joint statement.
Britain quit the EU in January but remains an informal member until Dec. 31 – the end of a transition period during which it has remained in the EU single market and customs union. Johnson said the two sides would try to be as creative as possible but Britain could not compromise on key “red lines” so the most likely option was no deal, with trade reverting to the non-concessionary terms set by the World Trade Organization.
A final Brexit without a trade deal would damage the economies of Europe, send shockwaves through financial markets, snarl borders and sow chaos through the delicate supply chains across Europe and beyond.
“Every opportunity to reach a deal is highly welcome,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Berlin. The two sides have struggled to agree on fishing rights in British waters and EU demands that Britain face consequences if in the future it diverges from the bloc’s rules for fair competition – what it calls a level playing field. Ireland’s foreign minister, Simon Coveney, said that despite recent comments from the British side, he understood that there was largely agreement on maintaining existing standards.
“I think both sides do want a deal and they want a deal now,” Coveney told national broadcaster RTE. “My view is that a deal can be done, but it really needs to be done within the next few days.”
Taking the podium at EU headquarters in Brussels on Sunday, Von der Leyen said that despite the lack of any breakthrough, talks to determine the two sides’ future trading relationship would continue. Von der Leyen said she had a “constructive and useful phone call” with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in which they discussed “major unsolved topics.”
She didn’t go into detail, but sticking points have included fishing rights, fair competition rules and mechanisms for resolving trade disputes.
“Our negotiation teams have been working day and night over the recent days, and despite the exhaustion after almost one year of negotiations — and despite the fact that deadlines have been missed over and over — we both think that it is responsible, at this point in time, to go the extra mile,” von der Leyen said.
