UK, EU leaders to meet Wednesday amid Brexit no-deal signals

The leaders of Britain and the European Commission will make a last-minute push for a post-Brexit UK-EU commerce deal over dinner on Wednesday, with either side warning that the prospect of reaching settlement by a year-end deadline is slipping away.

With simply over three weeks till an financial rupture that threatens upheaval for companies on either side of the English Channel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted that she seemed ahead to welcoming UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to Brussels on Wednesday night.

Johnson’s workplace confirmed the 2 leaders would maintain a dinner assembly ”to proceed discussions on the longer term relationship between the UK and the EU.”

The heat phrases masked a deep political divide between Britain and the EU over what their relationship will appear to be as soon as a post-Brexit transition interval ends on Dec. 31.

Johnson and von der Leyen, head of the EU’s govt arm, spoke by telephone Monday to take inventory of commerce talks which have floor to a halt after months of tense negotiations. The two leaders mentioned afterwards that “significant differences” remained on three key points — fishing rights, fair-competition guidelines and the governance of future disputes.

Johnson mentioned Tuesday that “the situation at the moment is very tricky,” although he added that “hope springs eternal.”

German European Affairs Minister Michael Roth, whose nation at present holds the UK’s rotating presidency, mentioned “we are really in a very difficult situation.”

The UK left the EU on Jan. 31 after 47 years of membership, however stays inside the bloc’s tariff-free single market and customs union till the top of the 12 months. Reaching a commerce deal by then would guarantee there aren’t any tariffs and quotas on commerce in items on Jan. 1, though there would nonetheless be new prices and pink tape for companies.

Failure to safe a commerce deal would imply tariffs and different boundaries that might damage either side, though most economists suppose the British financial system would take a larger hit as a result of the UK does virtually half of its commerce with the bloc.

There was a breakthrough in a single space, as the 2 sides introduced they’d reached settlement on how commerce will work with Northern Ireland, the one a part of the UK that shares a land border with the EU.

The Brexit divorce settlement struck by the 2 sides final 12 months incorporates particular provisions for Northern Ireland to make sure there aren’t any customs checks or different commerce boundaries alongside the border with EU member state Ireland.

Not all the main points have been hammered out earlier than the UK left the bloc in January, and as commerce talks foundered the British authorities launched laws in September giving itself powers to breach the legally binding withdrawal settlement.

Britain claimed its Internal Market Bill was wanted as an “insurance policy” to guard the circulate of products inside the UK within the occasion of a no-deal Brexit. But the transfer infuriated the EU, which noticed it as an act of dangerous religion that would imperil Northern Ireland’s peace settlement.

On Tuesday, British Cabinet Minister Michael Gove and European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic mentioned they’d reached an settlement on how commerce to and from Northern Ireland would work, whether or not or not there may be an overarching UK-EU commerce deal.

Britain mentioned consequently it could scrap its law-breaking measures, and Sefcovic mentioned he hoped the accord would “create a positive momentum for the free trade agreement.”

The assembly between Johnson and von der Leyen comes on the eve of a two-day summit in Brussels beginning Thursday — one the EU hopes is not going to be overshadowed by Brexit.

EU officers recommended negotiations might proceed previous Jan. 1, whilst the 2 sides tumbled right into a no-deal buying and selling relationship. But the UK insists the talks should end this 12 months.

While either side need a deal, they’ve basically totally different views of what it entails. The EU fears Britain will slash social and environmental requirements and pump state cash into UK industries, changing into a low-regulation financial rival on the bloc’s doorstep — therefore the demand for strict “level playing field” ensures in trade for entry to its markets.

The UK authorities sees Brexit as about sovereignty and “taking back control” of the nation’s legal guidelines, borders and waters. It claims the EU is making calls for it has not positioned on different nations and is making an attempt to bind Britain to the bloc’s guidelines indefinitely.

With either side seemingly entrenched of their positions, it was unclear what Johnson’s journey to Brussels might obtain.

Fabian Zuleeg, chief govt of the European Policy Centre, mentioned it was a bit of political theater.

“But what we don’t know is whether it is positive theater or negative theater,” he mentioned. “Is it coming to Brussels and then claiming to have hard won a deal maybe with some symbolism around that? … Or the other option is he comes here to make the political point that no agreement is possible.

“At this moment, we simply don’t know which theater Boris Johnson is going to play.”