UK, EU leaders to meet amid no-deal signals
LONDON » The leaders of Britain and the European Commission will make a last-minute push for a post-Brexit U.K.-EU trade deal over dinner on Wednesday, with both sides warning that the chance of reaching agreement by a year- end deadline is slipping away.
With just over three weeks until an economic rupture that threatens upheaval for businesses on both sides of the English Channel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted that she looked forward to welcoming U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson to Brussels on Wednesday evening.
Johnson’s office confirmed the two leaders would hold a dinner meeting “to continue discussions on the future relationship between the U.K. and the EU.”
The warm words masked a deep political divide between Britain and the EU over what their relationship will look like once a post-Brexit transition period ends on Dec. 31.
Johnson and von der Leyen, head of the EU’s executive arm, spoke by phone Monday to take stock of trade talks that have ground to a halt after months of tense negotiations. The two leaders said afterwards that “significant differences” remained on three key issues — fishing rights, fair-competition rules and the governance of future disputes.
Johnson said Tuesday that “the situation at the moment is very tricky,” though he added that “hope springs eternal.”
German European Affairs Minister Michael Roth, whose country currently holds the U.K.’s rotating presidency, said “we are really in a very difficult situation.”
The U.K. left the EU on Jan. 31 after 47 years of membership, but remains within the bloc’s tariff-free single market and customs union until the end of the year. Reaching a trade deal by then would ensure there are no tariffs and quotas on trade in goods on Jan. 1, although there would still be new costs and red tape for businesses.