The EU negotiator for future relations with the United Kingdom, Michel Barnier, as agreed, informed the Member States’ ambassadors to the EU on Wednesday 7 October on the state of the negotiations with London and reiterated that the sticking points remained open on fair competition, fisheries and governance.
His teams have been in London since Wednesday and the negotiator will travel there on Thursday evening and meet his counterpart, David Frost, on 9 October.
While several British media outlets are reporting breakthroughs in the discussions and a possible agreement, several sources have warned against complacency in recent days, indicating that at this stage nothing significant has changed on the controversial issues and that it will now be up to the Heads of State and Government to take stock of the situation on 15 and 16 October and possibly give instructions for further negotiations.
On Wednesday afternoon, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, spoke on the phone with the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and the British government presented the date of 15 October as a deadline for reaching an agreement.
President Charles Michel said on Twitter, following the call, that the UK should now put “its cards on the table” and that the EU was not prepared for “an agreement at any price”.
For his part, Boris Johnson reiterated his “clear commitment to try to reach an agreement”, insisting that an agreement was better for both sides. He also stressed that, nevertheless, the United Kingdom was “ready to end the transition period on similar terms to Australia if agreement cannot be reached”.
The two men “recognised that important differences remain, particularly in the area of fisheries. The chief negotiators will continue to work intensively in the coming days to try to close the gaps”, added the British Prime Minister’s spokesman. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)