Brexit talks delayed by virus
EU negotiator tests positive with just weeks until deadline
BRUSSELS — As if the Brexit trade negotiations were not tortuous enough, the coronavirus added a twist at a crucial stage Thursday when top-level talks had to be suspended because a European Union negotiator tested positive for covid-19.
It added uncertainty to the negotiations as a deadline looms and the sides are still divided on three key issues.
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said that together with his United Kingdom counterpart, David Frost, “we have decided to suspend the negotiations at our level for a short period.” Talks among lower-ranking officials will continue in the meantime. And once the top negotiators can resume meeting face to face, the talks should be back in London.
Any long suspension of talks will make it even tougher for the negotiators to clinch a deal ahead of Jan. 1, when the existing trade agreements between the EU and Britain expire.
“This can cause some delays but these negotiations have been a succession of delays. So this should not scare us off,” said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte after the issue had been briefly discussed at an EU video summit.
With face-to-face talks off the table, “the U.K. and EU teams have agreed to continue to negotiate remotely for the time being. The talks will resume in person when it is judged safe to do so,” Downing Street said.
The virus, which has been brutal for people across the EU and U.K., did not spare the negotiations over the past nine months. Barnier tested positive in March and Frost self-isolated that month after developing coronavirus symptoms. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was hospitalized in April and is currently back in coronavirus quarantine until Thursday.
The U.K. left the EU on Jan. 31, but a transition period when EU rules apply to trade and other issues runs until the end of December. Both sides had hoped to get a trade deal by then to protect hundreds of thousands of jobs and businesses that could suffer if Brexit leads to a sharp end to trade relations.
Talks have proven exceptionally difficult, with the two sides refusing to budge on three key issues — fisheries, how to check compliance of the deal and standards the U.K. must meet to export into the EU.