Britain, EU agree on key Brexit points
Final deal not yet negotiated
BRUSSELS — Britain and the European Union made big strides Wednesday in intense negotiations to secure a Brexit deal, agreeing on almost all major sticking points, according to EU negotiator Michel Barnier. Some complex issues, however, remained unresolved.
It remained unclear late Wednesday whether EU leaders would be able to sign off on a deal at a crunch summit with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson starting Thursday. No legal text had emerged yet from the talks, EU diplomats said.
The clock is ticking down ahead of Britain’s planned departure from the European Union on Oct. 31. The deal being negotiated would smooth Brexit by ensuring that EU rules continue to apply in Britain during a transitional phase.
Experts on both sides have reached agreement on some of the thorniest issues, Barnier told EU ambassadors, according to diplomats.
This includes customs controls for goods passing between Northern Ireland — a part of the United Kingdom — and EU member Ireland, a consent mechanism for Belfast and pledges to meet EU standards in areas such as social and environmental provisions.
But the two sides were still locking horns late Wednesday over the issue of value-added tax regimes. At stake is how to collect VAT on goods passing between Britain and the EU and the need to protect the bloc against VAT fraud.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron were cautiously optimistic Wednesday about reaching a deal. “The news out of Brussels could be worse,” Merkel said after joint government talks.
European Council President Donald Tusk said talks were going in the “right direction,” while referring to a “complicated” situation in the British Parliament, whose backing will be needed.
“Yesterday evening I was ready to make a bet that the deal is ready and accepted. Today again some doubts appeared from the British side,” he told the Polish broadcasters TVN24 and Polsat News.
The key sticking points have been provisions to avoid a hard border between EU member Ireland and Northern Ireland, which will leave with the rest of the United Kingdom. The open border is crucial to a Northern Ireland peace deal signed over 20 years ago.