BRUSSELS, Dec 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — EU and UK post-Brexit trade talks reached crisis point on Monday with the outcome highly uncertain and the risk of a damaging “no-deal” still alive.
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier and his UK counterpart David Frost worked late into Sunday in Brussels, scrambling to close out a deal after eight months of fraught talks.
Ireland’s Prime Minister Micheal Martin warned the chances for a deal were only “50-50”, while sources close to the talks said discussions were slow and expectations low.
Britain left the EU on Jan 31 but will exit the EU’s single market at year’s end after a transition period originally intended to give time to bind new ties.
The goal of the negotiations is to establish a trade relationship with zero tariffs and zero quotas in hopes of avoiding major disruptions come Jan 1.
Barnier and Frost are expected to keep talking through Monday, and report back to their respective bosses, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The two leaders will speak by phone later in the day.
All eyes are on an EU summit on Thursday, with the prospect that any deal — or the failure to find one — will be put to the bloc’s 27 leaders at that time.
Britain is very reluctant to accept a broad and binding arrangement, seeing it as an infringement on its new-found sovereignty after 47 years of EU membership.
Johnson has insisted Britain will “prosper mightily” whatever the outcome of the talks, but he will face severe political turbulence if he cannot seal a deal.
Without a deal, tariffs would be levied on the huge volumes of trade passing between the UK and the European continent, through the Channel tunnel and by ship, starting on Jan 1.
Travellers between both sides would also be affected with further passport delays and red tape for foreign residents and businesses.
Ireland’s Martin insisted that “a no-deal would be very damaging to all concerned, to the United Kingdom, to the Irish economy and indeed to economies of member states as well.”
“It’s very, very important that common sense prevails here and that a deal is done,” he added, and pointed to Thursday’s summit as a critical moment.
France meanwhile is seen as the most reluctant to compromise among the Europeans, taking the toughest line against the UK, especially on fishing rights and preserving fair trade rules.
For the second time in three days, Europe Minister Clement Beaune on Sunday warned that France could veto a deal if French interests were not protected. — NNN-AGENCIES
