There are “ways” to continue negotiations with London over the future relationship and both sides are in agreement that these exchanges should continue, European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer said on Thursday 19 March. And both sides have in fact “published” their draft agreement.
The spokesperson was reacting to the announcement by EU negotiator Michel Barnier that he had tested positive for COVID-19, 2 days after the official cancellation of the second round of talks initially scheduled to take place in London between 18 and 20 March.
“I tested positive”, the EU chief negotiator announced in a video message posted on Twitter, indicating that he and the rest of the negotiating team had been quarantined and confined (see separate news).
On Wednesday afternoon, the European Commission officially published its draft agreement, which is more than 440 pages long and slightly modified from the draft that had leaked on 13 March (see EUROPE 12446/19), particularly on the subject of fisheries, where the European language is intended to be tougher by insisting on maintaining the current reciprocal access to waters.
At this stage, London has only sent its project to Michel Barnier's teams.
“The analysis (of the two projects) begins now”, Mr Mamer said. As for London, the government has indicated that discussions will take place on this issue “next week”.
The British draft sets out London's vision for the free trade agreement, but also contains a draft agreement on air safety, air transport and nuclear power.
While the question of extending the transition period is still unanswered in light of the Coronavirus crisis, the British Prime Minister once again ruled it out at a press conference on Thursday, saying the issue is not under discussion.
The British Foreign Minister, Dominic Raab, has also closed the door to this suggestion. “There are many opportunities in the 21st century for this to be completed by teleconference or remotely. We don't want to extend. We want it done”, said the minister.
The European Policy Center (EPC) think tank in Brussels, for its part, has advocated this extension. In an analysis, EPC Executive Director and Chief Economist, Fabian Zuleeg, argues that “prolonging the transition should no longer be an issue – it has become a necessity”.
“The current crisis is already having a major impact on the negotiations. Technically speaking, it might be difficult to debate and reach an agreement given, for example, the constraints imposed on many administrations and parliaments. With limited travel, it is difficult to see when full rounds of negotiations could be resumed. Remote facilities cannot replace the multiple exchanges that take place during a negotiation round, let alone replicate the personal relationships that make a negotiation work”, added the director of the pro-European think tank.
Link to official EU text: https://bit.ly/395mM0Q and link to EPC analysis: https://bit.ly/395m2ZC (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)