Brexit trade talks ‘in final few days’
A BREAKTHROUGH is needed in the “next few days” if talks with the EU on a postBrexit trade deal are to succeed, a senior Government minister has warned.
Negotiations resumed in Brussels yesterday after Boris Johnson and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen ordered a push to try to overcome the remaining differences.
The two leaders – who spoke for over an hour on Saturday in an attempt to break the stalemate – are due to hold a further phone call tonight to assess whether an agreement is possible.
Environment Secretary George Eustice however warned the talks were in a “very difficult position” after what he said had been a series of “setbacks”.
He accused the EU of introducing “a whole load of additional demands” late in the day and insisting on “ludicrous” conditions on future fishing rights.
“It is in a very difficult position – there is no point denying that,” he told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme.
“We will continue to work on these negotiations until there is no point doing so any further but there is no point denying that
what happened late last week was a setback.”
Speaking later on BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show he added: “I think we probably are now in the final few days in terms of deciding whether there can be an agreement.
“Of course if the ambience warms up again and actually great progress is made and it is just about sorting out the detail, then you can always find more time, you can always extend.
“But I think unless we can resolve these quite fundamental divergences at the moment then we are going to have to take a position in the next few days.”
With time rapidly running out before the
Brexit transition period concludes at the end of the month, the chief negotiators Lord Frost and Michel Barnier are meeting in a last-ditch attempt to resolve the remaining issues.
In a joint statement following their call, Mr Johnson and Ms von der Leyen acknowledged “significant differences” remained on fishing rights, competition rules and the mechanisms for resolving disputes.
“Both sides underlined that no agreement is feasible if these issues are not resolved,” they said.
“Whilst recognising the seriousness of these differences, we agreed that a further effort should be undertaken by our negotiating teams to assess whether they can be resolved.”
Ahead of the meeting however, British sources warned there was no guarantee they would succeed.
“This is the final throw of the dice,” said one UK source close to the negotiations.
“There is a fair deal to be done that works for both sides, but this will only happen if the EU is willing to respect the fundamental principles of sovereignty and control.”