London (Reuters) – After the summit meeting on Brexit in Brussels, the British government is pushing for concessions from the European Union.
Foreign Minister Dominic Raab told the BBC on Thursday that there are still significant differences on some points. “On Sunday you have to take stock and decide on the future of the negotiations,” he added to the EU. “Sunday, I think, will be an important moment.”
On Wednesday evening, the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed to continue negotiations at the chief negotiator level until Sunday evening. “We will come to a decision by the end of the weekend,” said von der Leyen. At a joint dinner in Brussels they had a clear idea of the respective positions, which are still “far apart”.
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier and his British counterpart David Frost are now to continue their negotiations. The fishing rights and guarantees for fair competition as well as a mechanism for dispute settlement in the event of violations of the planned agreement are still in dispute. Raab said these issues are of limited scope on their own. For his country, however, they stand for certain principles. A “substantial movement” is required here.
Without a contract including a trade agreement by the end of the year, there is a risk of a hard break at the beginning of 2021 with upheavals for the economy on both sides of the English Channel. Great Britain had already left the EU at the end of January. On December 31st, however, the transition phase, in which Great Britain still has to apply EU rules, ends. Without a follow-up agreement, tariffs would come into effect and Great Britain would then no longer have access to the EU internal market.
– .
