Post-brexit talks go nowhere
EU, Britain exasperated ahead of summit on future relations
BRUSSELS — Talks between the European Union and the United Kingdom on their post-brexit relationship ground to a near-standstill Friday, with each side accusing the other of blocking progress on a trade deal just weeks before a crucial summit.
The EU’S chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, said at a news conference in Brussels that a weeklong round of talks had been “very disappointing.”
Barnier said there was no progress on all the most difficult issues and insisted that Britain would have to show more realism.
U.K. negotiator David Frost said the talks had “made very little progress towards agreement on the most significant outstanding issues.”
The two sides remain at odds over a range of key issues.
EU leaders and U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson are scheduled to have a summit at the end of June, likely by video, to take stock of the talks’ progress.
Britain officially left the 27-nation bloc on Jan. 31 but remains within the EU’S economic and regulatory orbit until the end of the year. The two sides have until then to work out a new relationship covering trade, security and a host of other issues or face a chaotic split that would be economically disruptive for both sides, but especially for the U.K.
The U.K.-EU divorce agreement allows for the deadline to be extended by two years, but Johnson’s government insists it won’t lengthen the transition period beyond Dec. 31.
Most trade deals take years to negotiate, so finishing something as fundamental as this in 11 months would be a herculean task at the best of times. Many politicians, experts and diplomats believe it is impossible during a coronavirus pandemic that has focused governments’ resources on preserving public health and averting economic collapse.
Britain wants a a “Canada-style” free-trade deal that would involve the elimination of tariffs and quotas on most, if not all, goods, along with agreements on services and a range of other issues.
The EU says Britain can’t have that without signing up to a swath of the bloc’s regulations on environmental standards, workers’ rights and state aid. Otherwise, they say, there wouldn’t be a level playing field.