TLTP
\nBRUSSELS
\nEuropean officials have been stung by the UK\u2019s announcement last month that it would unilaterally rewrite parts of the Brexit divorce agreement The European Union (EU) leaders will discuss preparations for the potential collapse of trade talks with the UK when they hold a summit later this week after France dug in, questioning whether it could hold Boris Johnson\u2019s government to any agreement.
\nThe bloc\u2019s 27 national leaders will assemble in Brussels on Thursday \u2013 the same day the prime minister has threatened to walk away if he considers a deal to be unlikely. With an accord hanging in the balance, the chiefs will review their contingency plans, according to officials in Brussels.
\nThey will also consider the need for stringent, legally binding dispute-resolution mechanisms in any deal after being stung by the UK\u2019s announcement last month that it would unilaterally rewrite parts of the Brexit divorce agreement. The move has stoked distrust of Johnson in EU capitals, adding a further obstacle to any accord.
\n\u201cWe do want to trust the UK, but what we have seen in the last weeks regarding the Withdrawal Agreement is extremely worrying,\u201d French European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune told reporters. \u201cIt\u2019s a matter of how the U.K. is a partner of trust in the years to come.\u201d
\nWith talks continuing in the Belgian capital this week, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier will on Tuesday update all 27 European affairs ministers on the state of the deliberations.
\nWhile the UK is pushing the bloc to soften its demands on fishing, the EU is demanding concessions from Britain, including limits on what state aid it will be allowed to provide to businesses. The discussions about contingency planning are, to a certain extent, a negotiating tactic to lower expectations and put pressure on both sides to reach an accord, a senior EU diplomat with knowledge of the talks said. However, he added that governments are now getting nervous about the possibility of failure, and want the European Commission to bring forward contingency measures soon.
\nBritain\u2019s chief negotiator, David Frost, said last week his team would still need to go on negotiating with the EU even if they fail to reach a free-trade agreement. Speaking to a committee of lawmakers in London, he said the two sides would have to come to arrangements in areas including flights and road haulage.
\nBut the EU is unlikely to agree to a series of such sector-by-sector mini-deals, an EU official said. If talks collapse, the bloc would focus on striking agreements with the UK only where it sees an urgent need and where failing to do so would damage its economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TLTP BRUSSELS European officials have been stung by the UK\u2019s announcement last month that it would unilaterally rewrite parts of the Brexit divorce agreement The European Union (EU) leaders will discuss preparations for the potential collapse of trade talks with the UK when they hold a summit later this week after France dug in, questioning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31558,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-150344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n