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Summary
- Britain accused the EU of introducing new demands at the eleventh hour
- None of the sticking points fully resolved till now
Day long negotiations continued over a post-Brexit deal between the UK and the EU on December 4 but just before 7 pm, Britain cautioned that there were problems with the afternoon talks. The UK said that the other party had gone backwards on the issue of a level playing field or how closely it had to stick to the standards of the European Union once the Brexit transition period ended. EU did not make any official statement regarding the issue.
The Thursday afternoon saw the French lobby pushing the Union to make late demands. EU pushed for a harder assurance over the role of a domestic regulator for subsidies in the new deal. The Union basically wanted the UK to establish an independent regulator for state aid that could rule against any measures before they actually came into force. But Britain is pushing that the regulator should only step in once the aid has been rolled out.
With the rising fears of a no-deal Brexit as the December 31 deadline approaches, the pound sterling fell to a low of 1.11 against the euro on December 3. The GBP has lost almost 6 per cent of its value against the euro since January this year.
(Source: ©Kalkine Group 2020)
On Monday, the UK government would be re-introducing the clauses that give it powers to overrule the Brexit deal, as the Internal Market Bill would return to the Commons. But sources revealed that the EU might not agree to such a stance. To this end, the coming Monday would be a serious deadline.
There is no doubt that the negotiators are working relentlessly to come out with a mutually agreeable deal. Talks concluded at 11 pm on Thursday only to resume on Friday morning. Shaun Jepson, acting deputy spokesman to the UK PM maintained the government’s view that any deal would have to respect the nation’s sovereignty.
Clement Beaune, European Affairs Minister for France emphasised that his government would be accepting a deal only if it was in the national interest. The nation was insistent that its fishing sector should not lose a major part of its access to the British waters. It also demanded that the UK businesses were tied to strict state aid rules along with stringent labor standards to ensure a level playing field.
On the other hand, Boris Johnson seemed equally determined to reclaim control over its fishing waters and being free to set UK’s own laws, border controls, and other rules.
Though the last few days saw progress on all the three main areas of contention – fishing rights, a level playing field, and the process of agreement enforcement – but none of them are fully resolved till now.
Britain left the EU on January 31 this year and got an eleven-month long transition period to negotiate a post-Brexit deal. The two sides have until December 31 to agree to a deal. In case of a no deal, tariff and non-tariff barriers would be levied as per the terms of the World Trade Organisation. Border checks and modifications to existing customs rules would also follow.
