Frost hopeful of Brexit agreement as Irish premier signals ‘landing zone’

‘The UK’S sovereignty, over our laws, our courts or our fishing waters is of course not up for discussion’

THE UK’S chief Brexit negotiator said yesterday that a free-trade agreement with the European Union could be agreed in September, as Ireland’s prime minister said a “landing zone” for the deal had emerged.

British and EU officials meet in Brussels for the seventh round of trade talks next week after a fortnight’s break following five weeks of intense negotiations.

David Frost said: “Our assessment is that agreement can be reached in September and we will work to achieve this if we can.” Michel Barnier, the EU’S chief negotiator, has set an end of October deadline for the trade deal to be finalised, which is supported by member states, such as Germany.

Micheál Martin Ireland’s Taoiseach, yesterday met Boris Johnson for talks in Hillsborough, in Northern Ireland. He said both sides knew that they needed to avoid the economic shock of a no trade deal Brexit after the coronavirus crisis. “The Prime Minister [...] reiterated the UK’S determination to reach a deal,” a Downing Street spokesman said.

If a trade deal is not agreed by the end of the year then the EU and UK will trade on far less lucrative World Trade Organisation terms.

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” Mr Martin said. “It seems to me that there is a landing zone if that will is there on both sides and I think it is.”

Much still remains to be settled, including the thorny issues of fishing rights and the level playing field guarantees, in particular over state aid rules. Mr Frost said, “The UK’S sovereignty, over our laws, our courts or our fishing waters is of course not up for discussion and we will not accept anything which compromises it – just as we aren’t looking for anything which threatens the integrity of the EU’S single market”.

The last round of negotiations yielded some progress, with both sides making concessions, after months of deadlock. The UK accepted EU demands that the future relationship be governed by one framework rather than separate deals. The EU has conceded that the UK will not abandon its insistence that the European Court of Justice has no role in future relations. Mr Barnier and Mr Frost will meet for dinner in Brussels on Tuesday. Negotiations close on Friday with further meetings possible the following week.

Both sides are in a race to make the October deadline, which will afford time for the EU to ratify the agreement before the end of the year. The UK leaves the transition period, and the single market and customs union, on Dec 31. At least 2.04 million EU citizens have been granted residency rights beyond the end of freedom of movement rules in Britain at the end of the year after having lived in the UK for at least five years, it was revealed yesterday.