The Europeans reported Thursday (October 29th) of "
good progress
" in post-Brexit negotiations with the United Kingdom, except on several key subjects, including fisheries, when the talks are reaching "
a critical phase
".
“
We are making good progress, but on the two most important topics of equal competitive conditions and fisheries, we would like to see more progress,
” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at the meeting. 'a press conference after an EU-Canada mini-summit.
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The UK, which officially left the EU on January 31, continues to apply European standards until the end of the year.
London and Brussels have since struggled to negotiate a trade deal that would take effect on January 1, 2021, to avoid a potentially devastating deal-less departure for the economy.
The negotiations have entered “
a week ago
” into “
a critical
and intensive
phase
”, Ms. von der Leyen stressed Thursday.
They still come up against three subjects: the access of Europeans to fish-rich British waters, the guarantees demanded in London in terms of competition, and the way of settling disputes in the future agreement.
This dispute settlement mechanism, which would be used if one of the two parties does not respect its commitments, in particular as regards competition, is "
crucial
", insisted the President of the Commission.
"
This will be the area in which we will have to work in depth in the coming days
."
Since the start of the negotiations, the EU has demanded that its Court of Justice (CJEU), based in Luxembourg, remain competent within the framework of this mechanism as soon as it comes to interpreting European law, to which London s 'oppose in the name of its sovereignty.
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According to several European sources, Brussels is now studying the possibility of not mentioning the CJEU in the future text and also avoiding any reference to “
community law
”, which would result in no longer giving the Court any role.
"
Solutions are possible to achieve the result which means that it is our level of regulatory and jurisprudential requirement that is applied
", said Wednesday the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, questioned by the senators on the role of the CJEU in the future text.
The Europeans set themselves until mid-November to conclude an agreement.
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