The situation in the morning - is the Brexit deal finally coming?

An action finale for fishing rights

The

for more than a year is like already one of those Hollywood movies where a heroine

to save the world - and although one suspects as a spectator, that it will probably succeed, you can never quite be sure.

Brexit is just as much a race against the clock, only that it has been going on for so long that boredom is creeping in: Who wants to watch an endless action finale that is all about fishing rights?

Of course, the question of whether there will be a

is extremely important.

But it is evident that only the UK is now breathless in coverage.

No wonder, because the British would suffer much more if customs duties and customs controls were reintroduced at the borders on January 1, 2021.

Icon: enlarge

Boris Johnson

Photo: JAMIE LORRIMAN / AFP

At the moment, however, politicians on both sides are raising hopes that not only will a deal come about, but

.

This is what the Irish Foreign Minister

claimed yesterday

, before that the British Foreign Minister

said: This was the "last really important week".

There are still two sticking points that will never make it into an action finale: First, the question of what

be allowed to

.

And secondly, about the so-called

.

The first topic is trickier than the second.

Will there really be a deal this week?

Or just a few minutes before midnight on New Year's Eve?

Or not?

The French European Minister

says: "We are still very far from an agreement".

And: "If the British believe that time is playing in their pockets, as they have believed in previous years, then they are wrong."

In all of this it is always about one thing: the political survival of

.

Almost a year after his triumphant election victory, he is ailing, he is under pressure like never before - and even his own party friends are now openly asking how long he can hold out in view of the

(whose approval would be

certain if Boris Johnson gets a deal).

The British investigative journalist

has now written a book about Johnson and takes him under his protection: He is shrewd and tough enough to rule for a very long time.

Read it here:

• British Prime Minister Biographer: "Boris Johnson Will Be Resurrected"

Europe is thinking about its defense

A year after French President

certified NATO "brain death",

.

In the coming year there will then be a separate NATO summit.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had commissioned experts from ten NATO countries, including Germany, the USA, France and Turkey.

Under the heading

, the group is now presenting its final report - and proposals on how to deal with the increasingly obvious disagreement within NATO.

In this way, principles such as the principle of unanimity could also be reconsidered.

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NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a video conference

Photo: - / dpa

The future of NATO is part of the larger debate about European defense: should the Europeans continue to rely on NATO or try to become more strategically independent from the USA?

There has just been an exchange of blows between French President Emmanuel Macron and Federal Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.

While Macron wants an EU army,

relies

entirely on NATO.

Many European strategy debates arose from the shock of

hostility - it is to be feared that many considerations will disappear again in the face of the new Biden administration.

Because at the moment everything in Washington sounds almost the same as it used to be.

Until the next change of power.

• Explosive reform proposals for NATO: there is life after "brain death"

Who pays the Corona aid billions?

A

broken out

in the CDU

.

And that about whether the federal government doesn't

bear

.

We remember: The sectors affected by the partial lockdown are compensated with 75 percent of sales - the restrictions could only be politically enforced on this condition.

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Sign on a restaurant in Bad Salzungen

Photo: Müller-Stauffenberg / imago images / Müller-Stauffenberg

But now Union faction leader

asked

whether the federal states would not have to bear a larger part of the burden in the future - and thus caused outrage in their own party, for example with the Hessian Prime Minister

.

The countries point out how much they are already doing beautifully!

But the question of how long the state can subsidize companies with full hands is not only preoccupying the CDU.

According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung,

economists such as DIW boss

or Ifo institute director

demand a change of course: "However, aid of this magnitude can hardly be financially sustainable for several months," said Fratzscher accordingly.

For a long time in the pandemic it seemed that money was not an issue.

Now it is over.

Politicians are faced with the question of how the monstrous sums that they are pumping into the economy will one day flow back into the coffers.

The government expects new debt to total 180 billion euros in 2021 - this has nothing to do with black zero.

The current Corona aid has been extended for December - in January, this is already clear, it will no longer be able to flow in the same amount.

• Scandal in the CDU presidium: Bouffier attacks Brinkhaus sharply

Story of the day: Sabathil gives his first interview

It was a spectacular story that went around the world: The former high EU official and lobbyist

from Germany spied for China.

In mid-January,

searched, with Sabathil and two other people being targeted by the Federal Prosecutor's Office.

The proceedings have now been discontinued.

And the German ex-diplomat tells his story for the first time.

Icon: enlarge

Gerhard Sabathil (archive image)

Photo: imago stock / Xinhua / imago images

He was relieved, but the anger still prevailed in him.

Sabathil says: “The Office for the Protection of the Constitution destroyed my life, but I won't let myself get down.

Maybe I'll leave Germany. "

• He was suspected of being a Chinese spy - now ex-diplomat Gerhard Sabathil is telling his story for the first time

Loser of the day ...

... is

.

In some of Europe's democracies it has moved to the center of a culture war: in

a popular initiative wanted to abolish the fees (and failed miserably), in

Boris Johnson once held the prospect of declaring fee payments to be voluntary (so far without result) - and in

the

fighting

for the abolition of ARD and ZDF.

And then there is

.

Here, the CDU and the AfD want to reject the increase in the radio license fee - and this could

break

the Kenya coalition of Prime Minister

.

According to SPIEGEL information, he does not want to allow the vote planned for Wednesday to take place in the first place for fear of defeat and would like

to untie the interstate

agreement, which would mean making his problem the problem of all other federal states.

Icon: enlarge

Pure Haseloff

Photo: Ronny Hartmann / dpa

It is questionable, however, whether this would help his government to survive, because the result would be the same as a lost vote: the increase would not be approved and the SPD and the Greens would probably cancel the government.

No matter how the matter ends: First, after the Kemmerich case, it shows for the second time how low the CDU's fear of contact with the AfD is in parts of the East.

Second, it shows above all that

.

• Dispute over license fees: Haseloff pulls the emergency brake - to prevent chaos in the CDU

The latest news from the night

• Controversial corona advisor to Trump resigns

  : Scott Atlas downplayed the wearing of a mask and urged US citizens to rise up against the measures.

  Now the advisor to Trump's Corona Task Force is vacating his post - shortly before his contract expires

• The jump in

  profit from 2.2 to 198.4 million dollars is not enough for Zoom shareholders

  : If you want to see your family, friends or colleagues during the corona crisis, you can also use the Zoom video service.

  Sales and profits have multiplied.

  Investors are still not satisfied

• Escoffier is

  shipwrecked on

  the Vendée Globe 

  - 550 nautical miles from Cape Town:

  Frenchman Kevin Escoffier reported a water ingress on the Vendée Globe.

  His competitors rush to his aid, the difficult conditions and darkness make the search difficult

The SPIEGEL + recommendations for today

• Ex-diplomat Sabathil - suspected of being a China spy: "The protection of the constitution has destroyed my life"

• Democracy experiment in Belgium: when randomly drawn citizens suddenly have a say

• British Prime Minister Biographer: "Boris Johnson Will Be Resurrected"

• Urologist on common gynecological problems: what works best for cystitis

I wish you a good start to the day.

Your Mathieu von Rohr