Eight days before the turn of the year, Brexit is about to make a big bang.
MPs are horrified - and name a final deadline.
There is a taste of the dangers in Dover.
The EU and Great Britain have been wrestling for a
Brexit trade pact for
months
.
Even at
Christmas
- a week before the
no-deal
- the
negotiations are
still ongoing, a German MEP speaks of “madness”.
Boris Johnson
and
Ursula von der Leyen
continue to
negotiate
.
Meanwhile, at the port of Dover, there could be a foretaste of Brexit upheavals.
Brussels / London - No quiet Christmas for the
EU
and
Great Britain
:
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
and
Prime Minister Boris Johnson *
are in constant contact to
conclude
a
trade
agreement
at the last minute
.
After a first phone call between the two of them on Monday evening, the regular top-level talks continued, as the AFP news agency learned from EU circles on Wednesday.
The negotiations at the highest level therefore continue to revolve around the issue of
fisheries
.
There is also an appointment for a final deadline:
Christmas Eve
.
Brexit: "The madness continues" - horror at the UK negotiations in the EU Parliament
EU parliamentarians
are increasingly appalled by the situation
.
"The madness continues," said
SPD Brexit expert Bernd Lange of
the German Press Agency in Brussels.
"It is unacceptable that citizens and companies do not know what to do next a few days before January 1st, and that in a situation that is worsening due to the corona pandemic." He estimated the chances of an agreement cautiously optimistic one.
Left parliamentary group leader Martin Schirdewan
told the dpa that an agreement should have been ready some time ago to allow a democratic review.
“So there are only bad options left.
The worst of the bad options would be the
no-deal
.
This would risk negative social consequences and jobs.
That must be avoided. ”The best option would be
to extend
the
Brexit
transition
period, said the left-wing politician.
+
Ursula von der Leyen and Boris Johnson at their personal meeting in mid-December.
© dpa
Brexit: German EU politicians warn - last deadline for trade pact, of all things, Christmas Eve?
Lange and Schirdewan belong to the Brexit expert group in the European Parliament, which was
informed
by
EU negotiator Michel Barnier
on Tuesday evening
.
The SPD expert Lange said: “I assume that both sides will get a deal.
At the moment the chances are like that. ”However, there is still a heated argument about fishing rights and a few other points.
"The package is not yet complete."
If something happens in the next few days, “we have to take emergency measures to avoid distortions”.
Then the absolutely necessary clauses should be applied provisionally and the package should be examined and ratified early next year, said Lange.
Schirdewan said that since the
provisional application need lead
, saw
EU lawyers
as a
final deadline for reaching an agreement Christmas Eve
, noon.
Brexit foretaste?
Dramatic conditions at the border - emergency supplies and scuffle with the police
The trading transition period expires on
December 31st
.
Great Britain then automatically leaves the
internal market and the customs union
.
Without a follow-up agreement, there is a risk of tariffs and trade barriers as well as stricter goods controls at the borders.
Thousands of trucks are
already jammed on the British side
on the way to the continent because France had temporarily sealed off the border due to the mutated corona virus - from the point of view of critics a foretaste of the situation in a
no-deal Brexit
.
A little foretaste of #Brexit - the airport is being converted into a truck waiting area, supply chains no longer work ... pic.twitter.com/Kc9EUdgq1d
- europe4future (@ europe4future) December 23, 2020
A report from the
county of Kent
shows how dramatic the situation is on the border
.
Near
Dover
, volunteers from a local Sikh religious community
prepared
800 meals
within three hours
and escorted them to truck drivers by the police, as reported by the
Kent Online
portal
.
The nerves of the waiting truck drivers are tense after three days of waiting.
There has already been a
scuffle with the police
at the port of Dover
.
A couple of frustrated drivers tried to get past the officers towards the ferry terminal.
(
dpa / AFP / fn
) *
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