Brussels / London (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have agreed a deadline of Sunday evening in the Brexit negotiations on future trade relations between the European Union (EU) and Great Britain.
“We will come to a decision by the end of the weekend,” said von der Leyen on Thursday night. At a joint dinner in Brussels, they had a clear idea of the respective positions. New talks between the chief negotiators on both sides, Michel Barnier and David Frost, had been agreed, as the positions would continue to “be far apart,” wrote Commission President von der Leyen on Twitter here. On the British side, a high-ranking insider confirmed that there were still major differences and that it was still unclear whether they could be bridged. EU insiders had said before the meeting that no breakthrough was expected at dinner.
If there is no agreement by the end of the coming weekend, the EU will revise its emergency plans for a “no deal” Brexit, a diplomat had predicted. Three points in particular have recently been controversial: fishing quotas, guarantees for fair competition and a dispute settlement mechanism in the event of violations of the planned agreement.
Without a free trade agreement, there is a risk of a hard break in early 2021 with upheavals for the economy on both sides of the English Channel. Therefore, according to Chancellor Angela Merkel, Brexit is also on the agenda at the summit of the 27 EU and government leaders this Thursday and Friday. It is important for the EU that the internal market is preserved. In addition, there must be fair competition between British and European companies in the future.
Great Britain left the EU at the end of January. The transition phase ends on December 31, during which Great Britain still has to apply EU rules.
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