Correspondent in Brussels
Updated:12/05/2020 21:53h
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The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, held a telephone conversation on Saturday afternoon in which both found that “significant differences” persist on key issues and that it would not be reasonable to sign any treaty that has not resolved these points. Negotiators will meet again Brussels This Sunday and Monday afternoon, the President of the Commission and the British Prime Minister will speak again by phone to assess progress, if it has occurred.
It was President Von der Leyen herself who appeared in a very short video published by the Commission, and spoke in a very aseptic tone, without noticing the slightest hint of tension that is supposed in a situation like this. The negotiators, the Europeans Michel barnier and the british David Frost, seemed to have thrown in the towel on Friday night when they concluded a week of negotiations in London with a statement that only confirmed the lack of agreement: “After a week of intense negotiations in London, the two main negotiators have agreed that the conditions for an agreement are not met, due to significant differences in the level playing field, governance and fishing. On this basis, they decided to suspend the talks to inform their directors about the status of the negotiations.
To get an idea of the situation, we need to imagine a very complex commercial treaty that at this point already exceeds 600 pages, with almost all the details already closed, but which is useless because, as Von der Leyen said in his short message, if The three aspects in which these differences persist have not been resolved before, it is not possible to accept anything as a whole.
The president said both she and Johnson have asked negotiators for “an extra effort” to see if these differences can be resolved, which could seem like an indication that they are both called upon to make concessions. In any case, taking into account all the months that the negotiation has been blocked on those same three points, that extreme is evident, because without concessions it has already been shown that there is no possible compromise. If neither moves, both will continue where they are, which is disagreement and traumatic separation from the next day 31.
No one thinks anymore that even if this latest attempt is successful, there will be time for an orderly ratification of the Treaty. There was even talk of the possibility of allowing its signature only in its English version, to avoid the laborious and long process of legal translation into each of the official languages of the EU, but to the French president, Emmanuel MacronThat seemed unacceptable. Therefore, in the best of cases there would be a provisional entry into force that should be ratified as soon as possible by all national parliaments and the European Chamber.
31, deadline
In any case, the matter must be resolved in the next few hours, before the meeting of the European council scheduled for Thursday. Community leaders will not have another chance to meet in person before the fateful date of December 31st And at that point they should only have two options on the table: either celebrate the agreement reached to avoid greater evils in a process that will not benefit anyone, or send the message that the European economy must prepare for the shock of the separation of 1 from January. .
For Johnson, the issue is more complex, because in reality the points on which there is still disagreement are precisely the elements that determine precisely that the UK’s position vis-à-vis the EU must necessarily be worse when it is outside than when it is inside. He is not interested in a commitment to keeping his labor or environmental standards in line with those of the EU, as he has always said that without these constraints the UK economy could perform better.
But it is unthinkable for the EU to accept that European entrepreneurs have to compete with a partner who is not obliged to respect the same rules. Furthermore, he does not accept the governance proposal, as this would lead him to settle disputes at the European Court in Luxembourg, which has always been seen by Brexiters as the symbol of illegitimate and oppressive justice. As for fishing in British waters, all ports voted for Brexit, but did not explain that if they do not allow European vessels to enter their waters, what they fish will not even enter the EU.
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