Brexit: Trade talks to resume as sides warn 'differences' remain

EPA

UK and EU negotiators will continue their talks later on a post-Brexit trade deal - but both sides are warning that major obstacles remain.

Boris Johnson spoke to EU Commission head Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday.

The prime minister said discussions are in a "serious situation" and a no deal scenario was "very likely" unless the EU position changed "substantially".

Mrs von der Leyen said bridging "big differences", particularly on fishing rights, would be "very challenging".

However, she also welcomed "substantial progress on many issues".

The UK has been in a transition period since leaving the EU on 31 January, where it has been following the bloc's trading rules.

That arrangement will end on 31 December and Mr Johnson acknowledged that "time was short".

And the UK's chief negotiator, Lord Frost,

tweeted: "The situation in our talks with the EU is very serious tonight. Progress seems blocked and time is running out."

'Simply not reasonable'

The talks taking place in Brussels between Lord Frost and his EU counterpart Michel Barnier are aimed at breaking the deadlock on key issues that remain unresolved.

These include fishing, state subsidies, the level playing field - common rules and standards that prevent companies from gaining an unfair competitive advantage - and the legal enforcement of any deal.

BBC political correspondent Chris Mason said the UK does not like a suggestion from the EU that support that comes from Brussels, rather than a member state, should be exempt from any limits on state aid.

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In a statement issued after the phone call, Downing Street reported the prime minister said "we were making every effort to accommodate reasonable EU requests on the level playing field, but even though the gap had narrowed some fundamental areas remained difficult".

No 10

"On fisheries he stressed that the UK could not accept a situation where it was the only sovereign country in the world not to be able to control access to its own waters for an extended period and to be faced with fisheries quotas which hugely disadvantaged its own industry.

"The EU's position in this area was simply not reasonable and if there was to be an agreement it needed to shift significantly."

The basics

• Brexit happened but rules didn't change at once: The UK left the European Union on 31 January 2020, but leaders needed time to negotiate a deal for life afterwards - they got 11 months.
• Talks are happening: The UK and the EU have until 31 December 2020 to agree a trade deal as well as other things, such as fishing rights.
• If there is no deal: Border checks and taxes will be introduced for goods travelling between the UK and the EU. But deal or no deal, we will still see changes.

What happens next with Brexit?

Earlier, UK cabinet minister Michael Gove warned the talks may go on until after Christmas. He said that while Christmas Day would be "sacrosanct", it was possible that Parliament, which is now closed for the holiday, could be recalled to approve a deal.

Mr Gove also suggested that although the European Parliament has said it would not have time to ratify a deal by 31 December if it was not concluded by this Sunday, they could "apply provisional application of the treaty".

But asked at the Commons Brexit Committee about how likely a deal is, he replied: "I think, regrettably, the chances are more likely that we won't secure an agreement. So at the moment less than 50%."

It's long been predicted that competition rules and fishing would be the last areas where compromise is found.

For Boris Johnson's government, being tied to EU regulations in perpetuity defeats the purpose of Brexit and makes a mockery of "taking back control".

For the European Union, it will not allow its internal market to be undermined by offering the UK unfair access.

Ursula von der Leyen has claimed the two sides have made a significant step by agreeing to a "strong mechanism" to ensure neither side lowers their environmental or social standards, but are yet to agree on how each could diverge from these levels in the future.

A good number of EU diplomats were quietly confident it was a matter of when, not if, EU access to UK fishing waters could be sorted. But it's proving trickier than they thought.

Sources tell me that Michel Barnier explained to EU ambassadors at the start of this week that if fishing is resolved, then a wider deal would quickly fall into place.

But there's no sign of a meeting of minds on fish, with the EU warning openly it may prove to be impossible.

But let's remember this is the most intense of negotiations and that every public proclamation from London or Brussels will be chosen to strengthening their respective hands in what are the final days and hours of talks.

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December 18, 2020 at 04:59PM

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-55358963