The European Union’s top govt and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will meet this month for talks that may perhaps also give new momentum to the stalled post-Brexit negotiations
June 2, 2020, 12: 21 PM
3 min read
BRUSSELS —
The European Union’s top govt and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will meet this month for talks that may perhaps also give new momentum to the stalled post-Brexit negotiations.
As a fourth spherical of talks between groups of negotiators resumed Tuesday with shrimp hope for a breakthrough on a future trade deal, the bloc’s govt arm acknowledged a gathering is deliberate between EU Rate President Ursula von der Leyen and Johnson by the tip of June.
Daniel Ferrie, the price spokesperson for EU-U.K. negotiations, acknowledged the date and the structure of the detect has but to be sure.
The U.K. left the political institutions of the EU on Jan. 31, then again it remains within the EU’s tariff-free single market and customs union till the tip of the year. That so-referred to as transition length may perhaps also be prolonged by two years though a deal to fetch so has to be made by July 1, per the neatly suited paperwork accompanying Brexit.
Johnson has time and again acknowledged he’s going to no longer prolong the transition length beyond Dec. 31.
Ahead of this week’s spherical of talks, Britain accused the EU of making unbalanced demands, while EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier warned in an interview with the Sunday Times that there wouldn’t be an “settlement at any price.”
The three outdated rounds of discussions possess did no longer scheme mighty headway, notably spherical fishing rights. The U.K. desires a fisheries deal to be a standalone settlement whereby the 2 facets negotiate access and quotas. The EU, for its portion, has sought to hyperlink fisheries to other trade disorders.
One more foremost roadblock is the so-referred to as level taking half in field. The EU is anxious that Britain may perhaps also diverge on rules and laws to make a competitive profit and desires to be sure that EU standards will seemingly be kept by London in return for a excessive diploma of access to the single market.
“The U.K. has been taking a step relieve – two steps relieve, three steps relieve – from the real commitments,” Barnier acknowledged. “The U.K. negotiators have to be completely per what the Prime Minister signed up to with us. Because 27 heads of express and executive and the European Parliament fetch no longer possess a transient reminiscence.”
No matter the obvious stalemate, Johnson’s spokesman, James Slack, insisted development would be made.
“We hope this most favorite spherical is positive and we hope that this will seemingly perhaps perhaps also grab the approach no longer off target earlier than the excessive-level meeting later this month,” he acknowledged.
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Jill Lawless in London contributed to this file.
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Practice AP’s beefy protection of British politics and Brexit trade negotiations at https://apnews.com/Brexit
