Economy

Angela Merkel ‘still hopeful’ for a Brexit deal

December 02, 2020 20:52·
Better latte than never Michael Gove buys a coffee as trade talks stretch

Better latte than never Michael Gove buys a coffee as trade talks stretch

Failure to reach a post-Brexit trade deal would reflect badly on both the United Kingdom and European Union, Angela Merkel warned as talks continued to thrash out a late agreement. We don't need an agreement at any price.

In any event, negotiations are reportedly 95% done (it's always that last 5% that's the most hard!), with the final sticking points relating to state aid, fair competition, fishing rights, and conflict resolution mechanisms.

With each side urging the other to compromise, a French official said Britain must clarify its positions and 'really negotiate, and cautioned that the European Union would not accept a 'substandard deal.

Another diplomat said the European Commission received a "serious warning" from France that it was making unsafe concessions on key negotiating lines "that risked dividing member states". Today, we have delivered on that promise, said Home Secretary Priti Patel.

Bloomberg reports that the intensive talks being held in London are making progress, quoting two officials as saying the general mood on both sides is one of optimism. We want one but otherwise we'll take measures that are necessary. Nevertheless, euphoria in case of a deal could sober up to realism, because a basic free-trade deal only remains a hard Brexit.

Angela Merkel ‘still hopeful’ for a Brexit deal

"Barnier will be asked to relay the message to the commission the member states would like to have prior scrutiny of a possible agreement before closing it. There's not much time left". She said: "Perhaps for some the most tangible are concrete questions, from the British point of view access to energy markets, from our view access to British fishing grounds". The current talks over the trade deal have hit a snag on fishing, governance rules and dispute resolution.

Those students who finish their graduation in a UK university can now spend "at least two years beyond their degree living and working in the UK and then they can swap into skilled worker once they get a job and that's a route to permanent settlement here in the UK if they wish", Foster said.

"I don't think we could vote against the deal because, like I said, the British Government want us to get a deal, it's in the national interest", the MP told BBC Radio 4's Westminster Hour programme. "If there isn't an agreement on this the whole thing could fall on the back of it".

At issue is the main question in the talks: finding some sort of mechanism to guarantee that Britain will remain aligned to a certain degree to European Union rules on the environment, labour laws and health. "It's percentages of different types of fish - rights to cod in the English Channel is more important to Britain than, say, rights to mackerel in the North Sea", said a source.

He tweeted: "The EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier has told EU ambassadors that if the UK Finance Bill, expected next week, contains clauses that breach global law [ie, that breach the NI Protocol] then the Brexit talks will be "in crisis" and there will be a breakdown in trust. But we have been clear that we won't change our negotiating position and we have been clear what that position is", said Boris Johnson's spokesman.

Indian politicians slam Trudeau for 'unwelcome' remarks on farmers' protest
Two farmers associations have said they expect 50,000 farmers to reach the Delhi border from the neighbouring state of Haryana. The report had noted that the organisers were largely members of Indian communities who had a strong connection to India.

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