EU and British Brexit negotiators have reached a preliminary free trade deal after nine months of talks, two senior EU diplomats told Deutsche Welle on 23 March.
Earlier in the day, a senior aide to European Commission President von der Leyen said earlier in the day that the two sides were “in the final stages of negotiations. A source familiar with the talks said, “The two sides are mulling over a deal.”
Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator for Brexit, told MEPs on 22 December that Christmas Eve was the deadline for reaching a deal and avoiding a possible short-term “no-deal Brexit”. Ambassadors have been told to hold a final meeting on the 24th, but diplomats from the 27 member states have urged caution.
Final agreement hinges on fishing rights
Governments have not yet seen the contents of documents from the past nine months of negotiations, but they will need to sign off on any deal with Britain. A senior diplomat from a coastal EU member state told Deutsche Welle, “Whether the two sides can reach an agreement all depends on agreements related to fishing rights.”
Throughout the negotiations, post-Brexit fishing rights have been one of the most contentious issues. British fishermen have long complained that they do not receive a fair share of the fish caught by European fishing vessels in British waters.
Barnier admitted to MEPs on the night of 22 that leaders need to step in and broker a compromise between the two sides. According to a leaked transcript obtained by Deutsche Welle, Barnier told MEPs in another video conference that it was very political and very sensitive, and that he could not resolve the EU-UK disagreement at his level.
Is the deal a done deal?
Britain’s Sky News reported that the two sides had reached a consensus on a deal, but an aide to the British government’s EU adviser David Frost told Deutsche Welle that Britain’s Brexit team was “still in negotiations.
A British government spokesman declined to comment on which issues are still to be resolved. Sources familiar with Barnier told Deutsche Welle that the two sides have reached a basic agreement on rules to prevent unfair competition and on how to regulate the deal.
EU officials are concerned that if the two sides fail to reach an agreement by the Jan. 1 deadline, it is unclear what terms the EU and the U.K. will trade through before a final deal comes out. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have been in telephone contact over the past few days seeking to lift obstacles to negotiations.
Both EU and British businesses are calling for a deal between the two sides to save tens of billions of dollars. If the two sides fail to reach a post-Brexit agreement, it will lead to more chaos at the U.K.-EU border at the start of 2021, when new tariffs on both sides will create other trade barriers.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the entire Brexit process will make EU citizens aware of the benefits of joining the bloc. I think many people take the benefits of being a member of the EU for granted because they are used to it,” he said in response to a written question from Deutsche Welle. But Brexit has made it clear that people see the benefits of being in the EU. They can have freedom of movement, they can enjoy free trade, and they can live, study or work anywhere. At the moment, I really don’t see most countries willing to give up those benefits.”
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