Brussels, Dec.18, (dpa/GNA) – There has been “substantial progress” in the crunch time talks between the EU and Britain over a post-Brexit trade deal but challenges remain, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said late Thursday after a call with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
“We welcomed substantial progress on many issues. Yet big differences remain to be bridged, in particular on fisheries. Bridging them will be very challenging,” she said in a statement after the talks.
Negotiations will continue on Friday, she said.
She spoke with Johnson at 8 pm (1900 GMT) to take stock of the talks that are being held with just days to go before an end-of-year deadline.
After the call, Johnson said it looked “very likely” that a trade deal would not be agreed unless the European Union position changed “substantially,” his office said, according to the Press Association news agency.
“The prime minister underlined that the negotiations were now in a serious situation. Time was very short and it now looked very likely that agreement would not be reached unless the EU position changed substantially,” a spokesman said.
Johnson said Britain was making every effort to accommodate reasonable EU requests on the level playing field, but even though the gap had narrowed some fundamental areas remained difficult, he said.
On fisheries, Johnson reportedly said that Britain could not accept a situation where it was the only sovereign country in the world not to be able to control access to its own waters for an extended period and to be faced with fisheries quotas which hugely disadvantaged its own industry.
“The leaders agreed to remain in close contact,” the spokesman said.
Britain formally left the EU at the end of January but remains in the bloc’s single market as part of a Brexit transition period until the end of this year. If no deal is clinched, disruptive tariffs and customs checks will be instated.
Talks are ongoing as leaders try to reach an agreement on the partners’ overall future relationship, including a massive trade deal before year end.
EU lead negotiator Michel Barnier earlier spoke of “good progress” but warned that “last stumbling blocks remain.”
EU lawmakers – many of whom complain they are being sidelined and forced into rubber-stamping a deal – issued negotiators on Thursday with a three-day ultimatum.
The European Parliament “stands ready” to hold an emergency session for ratification but only if “an agreement is reached by midnight on Sunday,” its political group leaders said in a joint statement.
Earlier, Britain and the EU officially put to bed a months-long dispute over the Brexit withdrawal deal, though all eyes remain on negotiations for a crucial trade pact with just two weeks to go.
“We have endorsed formal decisions and other practical solutions ensuring that the withdrawal agreement is operational on time,” European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said in a short statement on Thursday after talks with British Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove.
The two men oversee the implementation of the agreement.
London agreed last week to remove clauses from its controversy-mired Internal Market Bill which gave Britain the power to override parts of its exit deal with the EU – and prompted the bloc’s executive arm to begin legal action.
But this dispute – focused on arrangements for the avoidance of a hard Irish border – was only a sub-plot to the main show.
If they fail to resolve their differences concerning their overall future relationship, there could be significant upheaval, with trade hampered by new formalities that could paralyse traffic across the English Channel.
GNA