London and Brussels under time pressure after Brexit

The chief negotiators on both sides had to be quarantined because of the corona virus. Now they are talking again. But the differences are big and the deadline is tight.

Brussels (dpa) - After weeks of compulsory pause in the corona crisis, the European Union and Great Britain finally want to further clarify their future trade relations.

Both sides started the first of three week-long negotiations by video conference. Time is short, because the Brexit transition period ends at the end of the year. If no agreement is reached by then, a hard break with violent turbulence for the economy threatens.

Great Britain left the EU at the end of January. But little has changed in the transition phase. Great Britain is still part of the EU internal market and customs union, adheres to EU rules and pays into the budget. It should now be clarified how closely both sides will work together in the future, whether there are customs duties and goods controls, whether fishermen can still fish in the other's waters and many other questions.

After a first round of negotiations at the beginning of March, both sides had found that their ideas were far apart. On March 19, EU negotiator Michel Barnier announced a corona virus infection, and his British colleague David Frost also went into quarantine. In the end, only expert discussions about possible contract texts were held. Tangible progress should now be made by June, Barnier said on Twitter. He will provide results on Friday.

The Federation of German Industries warned that Brexit would hit companies in addition to the corona crisis. "The effects would be even more fatal if the transition phase ended without a follow-up agreement," said BDI chief executive Joachim Lang of the German Press Agency. "Time is running out." The negotiators would have to carefully examine all options of the exit contract "to prevent a hard break of unknown dimensions".

The withdrawal agreement stipulates that the transition period can be extended by one or two years if both sides agree on it by June. But Britain says no. The British government wants to finally leave the EU rules behind and avoid paying contributions that it would have to face in a longer transition phase.

A British government spokeswoman said only about the new round of negotiations: "We continue to expect constructive talks with the aim of making progress before June." It should be built on the previous talks. It was found out on which topics there was agreement and where there were still differences.

The European Parliament's Brexit representative David McAllister regretted that time had been lost due to the pandemic. Experience has shown that digital negotiations are also more difficult than direct discussions. Nevertheless, it is to be hoped that both sides will achieve justifiable results, the CDU politician said.

Greens MEP Anna Cavazzini warned: "The already extremely tight schedule can hardly be kept. It is impossible to achieve a negotiated result by the end of the year, where other trade agreements will be negotiated for years." The EU must therefore work to extend the negotiations.

The SPD European politician Katarina Barley, however, considers an extension of the deadline unlikely, as she told the SWR. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his government are eager to complete Brexit. The time pressure does not improve the position. Chief negotiator Barnier would not do anything unreasonable.

The roadmap for negotiations this week

Tweet Barnier from April 20, 2020