The follow-up process to Brexit has not been smooth, and the risk of a “hard Brexit” is threatening all parties involved, with London and Brussels agreeing to continue negotiations on Sunday as they approach a dead end, with all parties describing Sunday’s negotiations as a “last chance.
On Sunday, the U.K. and the EU entered the final and most intense phase of negotiations, which are limited to two days and run through Monday. The negotiations for a post-Brexit bilateral trade agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom are seen as a “last chance” to avoid the risk of a “hard Brexit” at the end of the year.
British chief negotiator David Frost arrived in Belgium, where EU headquarters are located. We are going to try to reach an agreement, even though the negotiations will be tough,” said British chief negotiator David Frost, who arrived in Brussels, Belgium, the headquarters of the European Union. Previously, after a full week of tug-of-war in London, the negotiations came to an inconclusive end.
EU negotiator Barnier cautiously tweeted a warning to his European counterparts Saturday night: “We’ll see if we can make progress.” Barnier seemed worried about the negotiations, which were suspended on Friday and restarted on Sunday.
Why such caution? Negotiations were interrupted on Friday because they had been going on for an entire week. Until Saturday evening, after urgent consultations between British Prime Minister Johnson and European Commission head Von der Leyen, it was decided to reopen negotiations on Sunday for two days. However, pressure is mounting on both sides and time is running out. If a deal is reached, it must be ratified by the British and EU parliaments and then formally implemented from January 1 next year. In other words, there are only three weeks left before the end of the Brexit transition period. UK Environment Secretary George Eustice told the BBC that the UK has only three weeks left before the end of the transition period. George Eustice, the UK’s environment secretary, told the BBC that it is now the last moment to have an agreement or not.
On the EU side, France’s Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Bonn, said that the next few days should have been better. On the EU side, the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Bonn, believes that a choice should be made in the coming days. He told the French Sunday newspaper: “Either we continue to negotiate or we endorse a hard Brexit, and if it’s the latter, it’s much better to know the outcome now than to delay it until Christmas.” In the case of a hard Brexit, it would be Ireland that would be hardest hit. The Dublin authorities on Sunday sincerely hoped that both sides would reach an agreement. Ireland’s Foreign Minister Coveney argued that failure to reach an agreement would be very costly for Britain and for Ireland. The official said he is confident that the negotiating team and political leaders will be able to find a sensible way out.
However, Germany, which holds the EU presidency, said Saturday that it would not accept a deal at any cost. Germany’s stance is meant to reassure EU members. Because the EU-27 was divided again last week, some members of the European Union worried that the EU, pushed by Berlin, would make too many concessions to the British side to avoid a hard Brexit.
EU negotiator Barnier will brief member state ambassadors on the negotiation process Monday morning. French Secretary of State for European Affairs Bonn said, “It would be naive to deny that the member states have different priorities, but there has been a re-alignment in recent days and all member states are on the same page.” He warned that Paris would not hesitate to cast a veto if the outcome of the negotiations was not in France’s interest, especially for French fishermen.
Access to British territorial waters for fishing is an extremely sensitive issue for some EU member states and is one of the three issues that have so far blocked progress in the negotiations between the two sides. Other challenges include how to resolve future trade disputes between the two sides and the EU’s demand for quota-free, tariff-free access to the British market.
Although public opinion says that the negotiations that have just begun are “final negotiations”, realistically speaking, they will not be the final negotiations.
The UK Environment Secretary George Eustice said Thursday that a deal is almost ready. George Eustice, the British environment minister, believes that an agreement was almost reached on Thursday, when the EU suddenly added a series of questionable demands. Regardless of the outcome of Monday night’s negotiations, the future of the EU’s relationship with the UK will be the thorniest issue at the EU summit on Thursday and Friday.
The U.K. has continued to enforce EU rules since saying goodbye to the EU on Jan. 31, when the transition period ends and the U.K. leaves the European single market and tariffs. If no agreement is reached, bilateral trade between the U.K. and the EU will be conducted in accordance with WTO rules from January 1, which means the resumption of tariffs and quotas, and the economic impact will be incalculable against the backdrop of a raging neo-crowning epidemic.
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