Negotiations between the European Commission and the UK government were still underway in London on Friday 4 December and were set to continue over the weekend, in an attempt to reach agreement on their post-Brexit relationship.
Although EU negotiator Michel Barnier told national ambassadors to the EU on 2 December that the three areas of disagreement - fisheries, governance and the level playing field - had not yet been resolved, he decided to continue discussions without informing the ambassadors on 4 December.
Earlier the same day, Charles Michel, the President of the European Council, said that the EU wants an agreement with London, but “not at any price”. This is also the French position: France has threatened to veto an inadequate agreement, as indicated by Clément Beaune, its Secretary of State for European Affairs, on 4 December.
If agreement is reached over the weekend, it will in any event require the EU-27 to give the informal go-ahead at the Summit on 10 and 11 December. The legal text will then have to be adopted by the Council of the EU and the European Parliament, and perhaps even the national parliaments, if the agreement is a ‘mixed’ one. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)