The European Union’s negotiator for the post-Brexit relationship, Michel Barnier, told MEPs, on Friday 18 December, that there was “very little time, a few hours of useful time” left to reach a successful agreement with the British government.
But the former European Commissioner still believes that there is a “path” to a deal, albeit a “very narrow one”. Unsurprisingly, fishing was the most difficult point in the negotiations on Friday, the EU wanting to guard against an abrupt closure of British waters to European fishermen.
The Union needs guarantees and, “if the UK cuts off access to waters like this, the EU must also have the sovereign right to react on access to its market, including British fisheries products, and to take action in response”, explained Mr Barnier. “This is one of the big difficult issues and it would be neither fair nor acceptable for European fishermen to have only transitional rights that would evaporate while the rest of the agreement remains stable”, he added.
The EU negotiator conceded before MEPs that he was not yet in a position to say “what will be the outcome of the final stretch”. “We have to be prepared for every scenario”, he said.
On Thursday evening, the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, spoke again by telephone, reiterating the points of difference that remain.
Negotiations continued on Friday. According to Commission spokesman Eric Mamer, there is “no official deadline” for these talks.
Nevertheless, the Conference of Presidents of Political Groups of the European Parliament (CoP) had stated, the day before, that the European Parliament would not be able to analyse and vote on an agreement reached beyond Sunday 20 December. In the event of an agreement being reached after that date, EU/UK relations will be governed by WTO rules if the Commission does not activate the provisional application of any agreement that has not received the Parliament’s consent.
Nor can the lasting absence of an agreement be ruled out. On Friday, the European Parliament approved (680 votes in favour, 3 against and 4 abstentions) the adoption of measures to prepare for a ”no deal” on fisheries, road and air transport, after ensuring traffic connectivity in the Channel Tunnel on Thursday.
Bernd Lange (S&D, Germany), said that a lack of agreement with London “would not be the end of the world”. “We are preparing for such a situation, but it is not what we want. We want a good agreement, but not at any price and that is why the European Parliament will monitor it very closely”, he added.
“ Let’s not give in!”, commented S&D group leader Iratxe García Pérez of Spain, who believes that Boris Johnson is isolated. “The common thread must be the protection of the Single Market. There will be no free market access if the UK does not commit to the same standards”, she said.
Finally, the ECR Group, for its part, has called for the creation of a parliamentary delegation with the United Kingdom to continue the bilateral dialogue if an agreement is on track. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)