The EU negotiator on future relations with the United Kingdom, Michel Barnier, travelled to Berlin, on Monday 5 October, to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel to take stock of the negotiations with London.
The visit came two days after a telephone exchange between the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, during which it was noted that work was being stepped up to reach an agreement before the end of the month.
Michel Barnier, who may have further informal contacts on 9 October with his British counterpart, David Frost, will also be with the Member States’ Ambassadors to the EU on 7 October to discuss the forthcoming General Affairs Council of the EU and the forthcoming European Summit on 15 and 16 October, which will host a more in-depth discussion on the negotiations.
Last weekend, the two negotiators left each other in the face of continuing differences on fisheries, a level playing field and the governance framework.
The President of the Commission and Boris Johnson then took note on Saturday of the state of play of the discussions and the persistence of “significant differences” and agreed to pursue them “intensively” in order to reach an agreement. London and the EU therefore have in principle until the end of the month, or even the very beginning of November, to reach a successful agreement. However, according to one diplomatic source, the talks have not produced “significant progress” and difficulties remain on the last points of contention.
On fisheries, London would thus have made offers of access to British waters on the basis of transitional periods with a kind of phasing out of this facility, which is considered insufficient by the Member States most concerned, because “only the timetable is settled, not the substantive problem”, the substantive problem being for the EU to secure access to waters equivalent to the current access.
On the question of a level playing field, a satisfactory solution has not yet been found on the issue of State aid, nor on the question of social, environmental or fiscal standards.
The EU27 will therefore hold a full review on 15 and 16 October, bearing in mind that “a no-deal is better than a bad deal”, the source adds, as the EU could face a no-deal situation in January. This is also what Boris Johnson said this weekend, assuring on a TV show that a ‘no deal’ is “not what I want, but we can live with it”. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)