Braxit’s negotiations are entering their final decisive phase as British Prime Minister.
Boris Johnson
will travel to Brussels on Wednesday to finalise an agreement on EU-Britain relations.
If the agreement is not concluded, it means that from the beginning of next year, for the first time in almost half a century, tariffs will be applied to certain types of trade between the UK and the trading bloc to which it sends 43% of its exports.
It would also put an end to many forms of cooperation between the United Kingdom and the European Union in the fields of crime, security and travel, and would destroy relations between the close American allies in Europe when the new administration takes office in Washington.
Even if the agreement is concluded, barriers to trade will increase, leading to additional costs and delays for importers and exporters on both sides of the border.
The negotiations resulted in the United Kingdom and the EU fighting the coronavirus pandemic and the economic cost of the government’s efforts to contain the pandemic. The United Kingdom was one of the worst affected countries, with GDP falling by almost 10% at the end of the third quarter compared to the previous year. Nearly 70,000 deaths in the UK have been attributed to Covid-19, making it one of the countries with one of the lowest per capita mortality rates in Europe.
Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, warned that the failure of the deal would leave scars on the British economy, although Johnson said he was confident that the British economy would flourish whether or not there was a trade agreement with the EU.
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After a long telephone conversation with the President of the European Commission.
Ursula von der Leyen
Mr Johnson said on Monday night that he would travel to Brussels in the next few days. On Tuesday evening, the parties announced that Mr Johnson would speak with the head of the EU over dinner on Wednesday.
On Thursday and Friday, EU leaders meet in Brussels for the summit and get the chance to play a game of brexiet. Officials say there are no plans for direct talks between Johnson and EU leaders at the summit, but if sufficient progress had been made, the leaders would in theory have had an opportunity to discuss and possibly sign an agreement.
I think the situation is very complicated right now. Our friends have just realised that Britain has allowed the European Union to exercise democratic control over the way we do things, Johnson said in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation.
In a signal that both sides are always willing to compromise, the UK Government said Tuesday that it would not implement planned legislation to repeal parts of last year’s divorce settlement in relation to Northern Ireland.
This concession, which was described by some EU officials as a positive step, came after the EU and the UK also announced an agreement on the implementation of the phasing-out agreement, which included measures to avoid a physical boundary on the island of Ireland.
After years of uncertainty and missed deadlines, Britain is finally leaving the EU. But Brekit’s drama may not end when Britain enters a new phase of negotiations with its trading partners. Jason Douglas WSJ reports. Photo: Daniel Leal Olivas/Getty Pictures (originally published on 31 January 2020)
The negotiators are trying to fill in the gaps on issues that have hampered the negotiations from the outset, such as how to ensure fair competition, EU access to UK fishing waters and the management of the agreement.
The agreement will provide a solution to the most important issue raised during the UK vote in 2016, namely the exit from the Union: How can the UK regain control of its rules and standards if it continues to want special access to EU markets?
The United Kingdom withdrew from the market on 31 December 2007. He officially returns from the block on 31 January, but he complies with EU regulations and will receive a new certificate of origin until 31 January. Full access to the Union’s internal market should be ensured by 31 December at the latest, the date on which the transitional period officially expires.
Michel Barnier, chief negotiator for the EU, right, Brussels Tuesday
Photo:
Gert Vanden Weingaert/Bloomberg News
On Tuesday, EU officials raised the prospect of an immediate breakthrough in talks between Johnson and Von der Leyen and said that any progress made by the leaders was likely to provoke renegotiations between the chief negotiators.
The officials stated that there was no immediate deadline for the conclusion of the negotiations and that they were ready to start negotiations after 1 January 2007. The Commission is prepared to reintroduce it on 1 January if no agreement is reached. However, they said that their negotiating position would not change. Johnson’s press secretary closed all negotiations Tuesday after March 31st. December.
Any agreement must be signed by the parliaments of the United Kingdom and Europe. This leaves little time to sign the agreement before 31 December. It must be completed, translated into the EU languages, ratified and signed by the legislators by 31 December at the latest.
The EU-British team has completed most of the text of an agreement, but no significant progress has been made in recent days, according to UK and EU officials.
The main obstacle lies in the principles that will govern future state aid decisions on both sides of the Channel, including the EU’s requirement for Britain to set up an independent agency to block unfair state subsidies. The UK also requires the EU to agree to a reduction in subsidies from the EU budget.
The UK opposes the EU requirements for a harmonised legal framework that would block the UK’s commitment not to lower its labour, environmental and social standards than those required by the EU and that common minimum standards could be improved over time.
The two parties are also far apart on the issue of future access of EU fishermen to UK waters and on the issue of harmonising the transition to the new system, which is economically insignificant but politically sensitive.
The management of the agreement – the actions that either party can take if the other party breaks the agreement – is also in the air.
Write to Lawrence Norman at [email protected] and Jason Douglas at [email protected].
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