UK and EU to meet "every day" to resolve post-Brexit agreement

The British Government announced on Wednesday that negotiations with the European Union (EU) to find an agreement on their post-Brexit relationship will resume this day in London.

The United Kingdom had refused to call a new meeting until Brussels accepted a "fundamental change" in its negotiating strategy and admitted that both sides of the Channel must give up ground.

"We have jointly agreed a set of principles" for an "intensified phase of dialogue", said a spokesman for Downing Street, the official residence of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in a statement.

From now on, the negotiations "will take place every day, including at weekends, unless both parties agree otherwise", a joint document advances in which both parties detail the "principles" that will govern the dialogue.

The "initial phase" of these contacts will take place in the British capital from tomorrow until next Sunday, details of which are set out in the document, and will be followed by meetings both in London and Brussels and by telematics.

The negotiations will take place "in principle" on the basis of legal texts drawn up by both parties, one of the conditions required by the United Kingdom.

Various task forces will seek to make progress "as rapidly as possible" on specific issues relating to the future bilateral relationship, while a "joint secretariat" will draw up a "consolidated text" covering progress in various areas.

Regular "small format" meetings will also be held between the UK's chief negotiator, David Frost, and his EU counterpart, Michel Barnier.
 

The document released stresses at the same time that even if progress is made on specific issues "nothing is agreed in these negotiations until a full final agreement is reached", one of the principles that the EU has insisted on since the beginning of the negotiation process.

The UK Government warned that resuming the dialogue does not guarantee that a consensus will be reached, especially on the most controversial issues, such as fishing quotas in UK waters and the state aid regime in the UK after Brexit.

"As both sides have made clear, it takes two parties to reach agreement. It is entirely possible that the negotiations will not succeed. In that case, the UK would end the transition period in Australian terms", stressed the Downing Street spokesman.

The British government often uses the example of Australia, a country that does not have a free trade agreement with the EU, to refer to the option of a Brexit without agreement, in which trade between the UK and the 27 would be made on the basis of the generic rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Both sides hope to have ratified a pact to guide their future relationship before the deadline of 31 December, when the transition period ends and the UK will break its ties with the Community bloc once and for all. 

The European negotiator for relations with the United Kingdom after Brexit, Michel Barnier, assured the plenary session of the European Parliament last Wednesday that, despite the difficulties in the negotiations, it is still possible to reach an agreement in time for it to come into force when the divorce occurs in December, although this requires that the most serious differences be resolved "in the next few days".

"I believe that the agreement is within our reach if on both sides we are prepared to work constructively and in a spirit of compromise, if we move forward in the next few days on the basis of legal texts, as we wish", Barnier summarised, in a speech in plenary session to report on the state of negotiations.

The European negotiator reviewed the difficulties of recent weeks in unblocking the talks because, after four months of contacts, there is still no rapprochement on three key issues, which are fundamental for the EU in exchange for an agreement without tariffs or quotas: ensuring equal conditions of competition on both sides of the Channel, ensuring that the European fleet can access British waters under fair conditions and governance that protects respect for the agreements.

At his side, the European Commission Vice-President responsible for monitoring compliance with the withdrawal agreement, Maros Sefcovic, has warned that without a 'fair' fisheries agreement, a comprehensive fair agreement will not be possible, thus ruling out the bloc relaxing the demands in this chapter as suggested by London.
 

"I call for urgency (on the part of the parties), time really flies and each day of lost negotiations is a day of lost opportunity to find the necessary compromises", reasoned Sefcovic, in his final speech, in which he also wanted to make it clear that even if there is an agreement on the future relationship it will not be applicable if the United Kingdom does not first comply with the application of the Withdrawal Treaty.

The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, also took part in the debate with MEPs, explaining that Barnier has the unanimous support of the EU-27, who confirmed at their last summit that they want to reach an ambitious and fair agreement, but not at any price.

"Time is short, we are ready to negotiate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on all issues and on the basis of legal texts", said Michel, who nevertheless warned the government of Boris Johnson that the degree of sovereignty they wish to mark out in the agreement will also determine "the level of access to our internal market".

"It is simply a matter of common sense", continued Michel in his speech, adding afterwards that the EU "wants a fair and balanced agreement", although it will be equally prepared in the event that the negotiations fail and the final Brexit takes place without a future agreement.