Brexit, Angela Merkel: “EU prepare for exit without agreement”. London-Brussels clash over compliance with EU rules

The Brexit without agreement it is not averted at all. Indeed, theEuropean Union must prepare for the possibility of one no deal Brexit. To say it, speaking to Bundestag, is the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, which after the difficulties manifested also by the EU chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, in completing the terms of the agreement signed with the UK during this transition year, running until 31 December 2020, it opens up again to the possibility of a total divorce.

A challenge, that of avoiding a no deal, which the Chancellor has decided to undertake and which will be one of the lighthouses of the German presidency of the EU Council which starts today and will last, as usual, 6 months. The idea, he said, is to find a “good solution” and reach a final agreement by autumn.

After overcoming the internal impasse at UK on signing the agreement, costing the premiership a Theresa May, and the definitive ok of EU Council on the agreement at the end of January, the negotiations continued. Because if an agreement exists on paper, it must then be translated into new ones bilateral agreements that regulate relations between the Union and Great Britain in all fields.

But the difficulties are not few. The explosion of the pandemic of coronavirus in Europe it certainly slowed down the work of the negotiators, forcing them to meetings limited to video conferencing who then admitted the two heads of diplomacy on Brexit, Michel Barnier and David Frost, had repercussions on the discussions.

Barnier himself made it clear less than a month ago, on June 5, when at the end of the last round of negotiations he declared that “There was no significant progress” in negotiations with London, but an agreement “must be found between today and October 31”. Autumn is the deadline that the Union has set itself to be able to think of reaching a Kingdom exit by the end of the year with all the points clarified and put in black and white. But the British counterpart, added the Brussels chief negotiator, “distances itself from political statement agreed. “

Frost’s position was less catastrophic and, after a few hours from Barnier’s words, he said he had recorded “Positive tones”, ma “Limited progress”: “Progress – explains Frost in a note – remains limited, but our (last) talks have had a positive tone and we remain committed to a final success. We are in an important moment of these talks, close to the limits of what we can achieve through the format of the remote rounds. If we want to make progress, it is clear that we need to step up and speed up the work, by discussing with the Commission what the best way is. “

The points of confrontation on the adhesion of the Kingdom to some Community standards however, many remain just 4 months after the deadline set by the EU. Brussels aims to keep London as much as possible within the parameters of the Union, so as to limit as much as possible strong competition on the border, on the other the government’s secessionist drive JohnsonPressed by the more extremist wing of the conservatives, he calls for full independence. And one of the fields of greatest clash is that of fishing: on the one hand, the British intend to guarantee priority access to national waters for British fishing vessels, on the other Palazzo Berlaymont calls for “mutual access to markets and seas” between Great Britain and the 27. This is because those areas are also important for the Community economy, given that most of the Union’s catch currently comes fromNorth-east Atlantic. “On fishing the United Kingdom has shown no interest in a new approach – Barnier had declared -, as well as on level playing field (the regulatory alignment that should avoid London’s unfair competition on the market, ed). On the governance of the future partnership we are still far away, while on police cooperation e judicial we had a positive discussion on some points, but important reflections still remain to be made “.