BRUSSELS (AP) – After weeks of lingering pessimism, the European Union said Wednesday that there is now a narrow path to a post-Brexit trade deal with Britain, which should avoid costly chaos at the borders by the end of the year.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said she was seeing clear progress in the talks held in Brussels, noting that “the good news is that we have found a way to move forward on most of the issues.”
Von der Leyen confirmed that the big discrepancies had been reduced to just two: free competition in the EU market and fishing rights for European vessels in British waters.
Although he referred to a “very narrow” path to reach an agreement, he added that “I can tell you that there is a path to an agreement.” The message was far more optimistic than that of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s previous comments, and even any other analysis of the situation in recent months.
“Now it is a case of being very close, and at the same time very far,” Von der Leyen told the European Parliament, which will have to approve any agreement reached.
Britain left the bloc of 27 countries in January, but remains in the single market and the European customs union until the end of the year in a transition process. The talks try to define the commercial relationship between both parties as of January 1.
“The clock puts us in a very difficult position,” said Von der Leyen.
The negotiations have been complex almost since they began nine months ago, and became even more complicated when Britain said in early autumn that it might not respect the exit agreement it signed with the EU, and that it consolidated its exit from the bloc.
Both parties have struggled to prepare for a no-deal departure on January 1, which would mean more costs and bureaucracy in a process that will already be cumbersome at best because customs and controls will be introduced where there were none before.
The two sides seemed close to ending the negotiations when Johnson and Von der Leyen promised to go “one step further” to close a deal.
Traffic jams are already occurring in ports on both sides of the English Channel, such as Dover in England and Calais in northern France, and the sense of urgency grows as time runs out.
The EU is ready to trade with Britain without tariffs or quotas, but only if Britain accepts the rules and regulations that have made Europe’s single market of 450 million consumers so successful.
However, Johnson says he doesn’t want British companies to be constrained by EU restrictions, especially if they tighten over time.
Although progress was being made on issues such as state aid and industrial standards, the differences remained over fisheries and access to British fishing grounds in exchange for the British fishing industry being able to export to the EU. “At times it seems that we will not be able to resolve this issue,” said Von der Leyen.
