Negotiations for a new trade agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union are about to fail. This is what Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin said at Parliament in Dublin. The chance of reaching an agreement is estimated to be a maximum of 50 percent. At their dinner in Brussels tonight, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will essentially try to buy a few more days to keep the conversation going despite everything, the insiders say.
The Brexit negotiations are now in their final stage after the transition period in which the UK is still following EU rules in practice ends in three weeks. Without a new agreement on trade, the economy, fisheries and other topics, the difficult division between Britain and the rest of Europe will be a reality.
But then again it looks like the deadline will be bypassed tonight. According to diplomats, Johnson and von der Leyen will have to decide tonight that an agreement is still not on the horizon, so a few more days are needed. Negotiations continued like this for weeks, with the deadline being pushed back each time. But the longer the agreement is awaited, the more difficult it will be to convert its content into legislation before the end of the year.
“I need more conversations”
Therefore, the two parties do not dare to speak of a final failure. “The likely outcome of the dinner is that more talks are needed and that an agreement is still possible,” a diplomat told Reuters news agency. If an agreement is reached before the end of the weekend, it should be able to cross parliaments at a rapid pace.
Irish Prime Minister Martin was less optimistic about the chances of reaching a deal tonight. “It remains to be seen how Prime Minister Johnson and Commission President von der Leyen can save the situation tonight,” he said in the Dublin Parliament. The disagreement between the UK and the European Union remains primarily over the three issues of fisheries, equal economic opportunity and legal settlement of disputes.
Unacceptable requests
In the British Parliament, ahead of his visit to Brussels, Johnson called on the European Union to drop some “unacceptable” demands. If not, the scenario of no deal is inevitable, adding some pressure. “No prime minister can accept the current conditions of the European Union,” he declared approving his conservative party. “Our friends in the European Union are now demanding that if they pass a law in the future that we don’t follow, they have the automatic right” to punish us. Besides, they say the UK should become the only country in the world not in control of its territorial waters. I don’t think these are conditions that any prime minister in this country can agree to. ”
Thus, a “good deal” can only be achieved if the European Union abandons its demands, but in any case, the UK “will prosper, with or without an agreement,” Johnson adds.
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