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EU Brexit chief negotiator Michel Barnier
Photo: SIMON DAWSON / REUTERS
In the dispute over a Brexit trade pact, the European Union and Great Britain have moved towards an agreement.
"We are now in the final phase," said an EU representative in the afternoon.
In London it was heard from British government circles that an agreement was "possible but far from certain" on Wednesday.
From several other sources it was said that the long very difficult point of fair competition had now been clarified and that the second sticking point, fishing, was very close.
Both sides have been negotiating a trade agreement for the period from January 1st for months.
Then the Brexit transition phase ends.
If an agreement is reached, a severe economic break at the end of the year could be avoided at the last minute.
However, due to the shortage of time, an agreement could no longer be ratified in time.
It would have to be applied in whole or in part for the time being.
In any case, the EU states would have to agree beforehand.
During the day, the Irish Prime Minister Michéal Martin and the British Building Minister Robert Jenrick expressed their cautious optimism.
Brexit experts in the European Parliament also spoke of the possibility of an agreement, but also expressed sharp criticism that nothing had been decided so shortly before the deadline.
With the end of the transition period on December 31, Great Britain will leave 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.
Von der Leyen and Johnson got involved directly
In the past few days, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Great Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson got involved directly in the negotiations.
According to information from the AFP news agency from EU circles, the compromise text that is now being examined is around 2000 pages long.
There is still a lot to check, said an EU diplomat according to the agency.
If the negotiators report a breakthrough, the governments of the 27 EU member states would also have to agree.
To this end, there could first be a meeting of the EU ambassadors in Brussels.
The text would then be checked in the capital cities.
It could therefore take several days before the EU got the green light, it said from EU circles.
According to AFP information, however, the member states began to prepare for the provisional application of a possible agreement.
It could then be ratified by the EU Parliament afterwards.
Because the MPs no longer consider regular ratification possible this year.
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asa / dpa / AFP / Reuters
