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The EU and the UK engage in post-brexit negotiations again

2020-12-21T00:40:43.454Z


Discrepancies over fishing quotas make it very difficult for the possible trade agreement to be ratified before the end of the year


The roller coaster of the negotiations for the post-Brexit agreement has precipitated this Sunday in a slide towards the risk of a breakout or, at the very least, towards an agreement in the cut-off time remaining until December 31.

The European and British negotiators seemed unable late in the day to meet the deadline set by the European Parliament, which required a text of the agreement before 00:00 on Monday as a condition for ratification this year.

Exceeding that limit would force a provisional application of the possible agreement as of January 1, but it would leave the ratification pending the vote in a European Parliament that could misfit the snub.

Fishing quotas have become the last stumbling block in the negotiations between the EU and the United Kingdom to agree on the commercial relationship once the transitional period of Brexit expires on December 31.

In the absence of an agreement, on January 1 there could be a serious disruption of trade between the two banks of the English Channel, with the imposition of tariffs and import quotas on many products.

The negotiators, with Michel Barnier at the helm of the European team and David Frost of the British, have remained in contact practically incessantly throughout the weekend, but without finding a gap that opens the way to the agreement.

"The EU remains committed to finding a fair, reciprocal and balanced agreement," Barnier said mid-afternoon on Sunday via social media.

European negotiators have insisted that the agreement must include the right to adopt defensive or retaliatory measures in the event that one of the parties fails to comply with the agreement or intends to reduce access to its market.

Brussels includes in this chapter the possible restriction of the access of British products to the European market if in the future London were to further limit the catches of the European fishing fleet in British waters.

The Boris Johnson government, on the other hand, claims the sovereign right to decide on its waters, without any impediment, once the transitional period that the European fleet could enjoy if an agreement is concluded.

After this period of progressive reduction in catches, which could range between six and seven years, London could prohibit the presence of European fishing vessels in its waters.

"We respect the sovereignty of the UK and we expect them to do the same," Barnier said.

And the French added that “both the EU and the UK have the right to set their laws and control their waters.

And we must both be able to act when our interests are at stake. "

Brussels could accept a progressive cut in catches of up to 25% during a transitional period of six or seven years.

London claims a cut of more than double and for half the time.

The association of fishing fleets of the affected countries (France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Spain and Sweden) considers that even the terms claimed by Brussels would be catastrophic for the sector, in particular for the capture of shellfish.

The profound discrepancies made it practically impossible to comply with the request of the European Parliament, which wanted to review the text of the agreement as of this Monday in order to be able to pronounce in an extraordinary plenary session in the last week of the year, just 72 hours before the end of the year.

France, the top performer from British fishing grounds, has made it clear that it is in no rush if the price to pay is a drastic cut in quotas.

"I know it is difficult, but it is necessary not to sacrifice our interests to the pressure of the calendar," said Clement Beaune, secretary of state for European affairs in the government of Emmanuel Macron, on Saturday.

Continuing talks this week or even beyond would put negotiators under pressure from the countdown to January 1.

If an agreement is reached

in extremis

, the Council of the EU could dictate its entry into force provisionally and leave its parliamentary ratification for the first weeks of next year.

In the most catastrophic scenario, the end of the transitional period on December 31 without an agreement, the contingency measures approved last week would be put in place that would guarantee, for example, basic connectivity in road or rail transport, but would not prevent a considerable disruption in trade relations between the EU and the UK.

Part of Europe shields its flights with the United Kingdom

Added to the tension of the negotiations in Brussels this Sunday was the escalation of vetoes on flights from the United Kingdom in several European countries as a result of the Covid outbreak that emerged in that country.

The Dutch government of Mark Rutte was the first to block the way to the British, but it was followed almost immediately by Belgium and Italy.

On Sunday afternoon, in parallel to the Brexit negotiations, the cabinet of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, called an urgent meeting by videoconference with representatives of the 27 governments of the Union to coordinate the response to the new strain of the virus. detected on British soil.

The adoption of restrictive measures could further deteriorate a commercial relationship that has already been affected by the pandemic (with a fall in imports and exports of around 15% between January and October of this year in relation to 2019) and that faces with uncertainty the end of the transitional period of Brexit.

The British employers' association, CBI, has demanded this week measures to soften the expected impact as of January 1.

Despite the four and a half years that have passed since the Brexit referendum, British companies are not prepared, among other things, due to the lack of definition on the scenario they will have to face from 2021. British businessmen are asking, among other things , that the EU gradually introduces customs controls over a six-month period, that it accepts for one year products manufactured in the United Kingdom that until now carried the European trademark, or that the European Commission authorizes the transmission of data between the community club countries and the former member.

The bosses believe that without these measures, the shock will take away the incipient economic recovery recorded in recent weeks after the first wave of the pandemic.

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2020-12-21

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