It has to be a fair deal, insist EU leaders during talks over Brexit

EU LEADERS agreed yesterday that a “fair” new partnership with Britain was “worth every effort” but that the bloc would not compromise at any cost and was ready for an abrupt split in trade worth a trillion euros every year.

Meeting face-to-face for only the third time in the Covid-19 pandemic, the EU leaders wore masks as they gathered in Brussels to discuss Brexit, where a new trade pact is still elusive as a year-end deadline nears.

“We want a deal, but obviously not at any price. It has to be a fair agreement that serves the interests of both sides. This is worth every effort,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Britain left the EU in January and the estranged allies have since been locked in complex negotiations to try to keep trading without tariffs or quotas from 2021.

Talks have narrowed gaps on issues from social welfare to transport, but three contentious areas have so far prevented a deal: fair competition, dispute resolution and fisheries, which is particularly important to France.

“In no case shall our fishermen be sacrificed for Brexit,” French President Emmanuel Macron said. “If these conditions are not met, it’s possible we won’t have a deal.”

With businesses and markets increasingly jittery as the deadline nears, yesterday’s EU summit was to approve extending the negotiations with a demand for Britain to budge, as well as stepping up contingency plans for an abrupt split.

Ireland, the EU member most exposed to a chaotic rupture, said smooth post-Brexit trade between the world’s sixth largest economy and biggest trading bloc was still possible and even more essential given the economic havoc of the Covid-19 crisis.

“With Covid-19 having such a devastating impact on society and on the economies in the UK and across Europe, obviously leaders will not want to hit citizens with a shock a no-deal would represent,” said Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin.

Given the economic malaise and global instability, it would be “crazy” if the estranged allies failed to agree, said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesperson said they would reflect on the meeting before deciding what to do. Britain wants to be able to regulate its own corporate subsidies freely in the future, while the EU seeks to lock in joint rules. Otherwise, the bloc says Britain cannot have free access to its cherished single market of 450 million consumers.