Shortly before what is probably the decisive day in the struggle for a Brexit trade pact, according to information from the negotiating circles, no solution is in sight. The negotiations in Brussels continued, but remained difficult, the British said on Saturday evening. The EU offer is still “unacceptable”. Further talks, including on Sunday, are likely.
In the stalled negotiations, the tone had previously become increasingly harsh. The government in London even brought the navy into play on Saturday to keep EU fishing boats out of British waters in the event of a no deal.
As was said on Saturday evening from British negotiating circles, it is expected that EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will speak to each other on Sunday, it said. The British position was unchanged: any agreement must be fair and respect the principles of sovereignty and control.
British media reported that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron blocked attempts by Prime Minister Johnson to negotiate directly with them. Both sides want a decision to be made by this Sunday at the latest.
When exactly a decision should be made on Sunday and how it will be announced, neither side could say on Saturday. That depends on the course of the talks, said a Downing Street spokesman at the request of the German Press Agency. Without an agreement, trade would have to follow the rules of the World Trade Organization; this sometimes means high tariffs. Economic growth is likely to collapse.
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney spoke out in favor of more positive communication from the EU side. There should be less talk of sanctions and more of solutions, Coveney told the newspaper “Die Welt”. Addressing the government in London, Coveney said: “We all recognize the United Kingdom as a sovereign country. But a partnership requires compromises. ” That is not a loss of sovereignty. Rather, it is a matter of sovereign agreements between two parties.
According to the German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, an agreement “is getting more difficult every day, but it is still possible”, as the SPD politician told the newspapers of the Funke media group. He added: “That is why we as the EU will continue to negotiate as long as the window is open even a crack. We’ll see what works by Sunday and then evaluate the situation again. “
Theoretically, time would be until shortly before the turn of the year. Only then will the transition phase come to an end, during which everything will remain the same despite the British leaving the EU. The British media are therefore speculating whether a return to the negotiating table would not be possible even if they admitted the failure on Sunday.
One of the main points of contention is access to fishing grounds within the UK claimed 200 mile zone around its coasts. The point is that the British want to decide for themselves who is allowed to catch how much in their waters. But the exclusive economic zone that the country now claims is not in line with the historically evolved division of fishing grounds, as defined in the framework of the European fisheries policy.
Economically, the topic hardly plays a role, but symbolically it should hardly be underestimated for the former sea power Great Britain. Here, too, neither side wants to give in. London even announced on Saturday that it would, if necessary, use Royal Navy ships to protect its waters from EU fishing tractors.
The issue of competitive conditions is also unresolved. Brussels takes the position that the competition from Great Britain can only hope for duty-free trade if the same labor, social and environmental standards apply on both sides of the English Channel.
But that is a matter of principle for London. Again and again British officials stress that it is a question of the sovereignty of their country. With Brexit, you want to regain control of your own laws, borders, waters and your own money – and not adopt the EU standards, which you then no longer have any influence on. For British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, it is absurd that, according to his presentation, the EU demands that Great Britain should follow EU rule changes at every turn.
EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen countered on Friday in Brussels: The British are free to deviate from European rules in the future, for example with regard to environmental standards. But the conditions for access to the European internal market would then also have to be adapted, in other words: tariffs would be introduced.
Commentators in the UK disagree on what’s behind the stalemate. Both sides could rely on the other to give in – and it would be difficult to miscalculate. Or maybe Johnson gives in at the last moment in exchange for symbolic concessions and everything is just a carefully planned choreography intended to portray him as a fighter in the eyes of the Brexit hardliners? It would not be the first time. But nobody can be sure.
From: APA / dpa / Reuters
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