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BREXIT ON THE DRILLS: Barnier warns to prepare for the No Deal, but European governments hope to keep going until 2021

The window for an agreement between the EU and the UK is fast closing and if there is no more clarity in the negotiations by Thursday evening, the EU will have to focus on contingency planning, Michel Barnier told Union ambassadors on Wednesday. chief negotiator of the bloc, as reported by Politico

Barnier's message was no different from what he gave EU countries in briefings in recent weeks, but he stressed that "this time it's different". this time the time for examining any counter-proposals is running out.

"We are fast approaching a defining moment in Brexit talks," said an EU diplomat. “Intense negotiations are continuing in London. As of this morning, it is still unclear whether negotiators can fill the gaps on issues such as a level playing field, governance and fisheries ”.

As things stand, it's not yet possible to say whether a deal is feasible, Barnier said Wednesday. He made it clear that if this is still the case on Thursday night, talking about contingency plans will become inevitable.

Some EU countries, including France, Belgium and the Netherlands, have been pushing the European Commission for weeks to publish its emergency plan for a hard brexit, but both the Commission and Merkel have always refused to do so in order not to show distrust. in the agreement, but now we are almost at the time limit. Furthermore, individual countries do not want to accept mediation agreements. French President Emmanuel Macron warned on Tuesday that France will not accept an agreement that does not respect its long-term interests, and today other countries have confirmed their own insurmountable limits. At the same time the United Kingdom, admitting that it wants to recover only 60% and no longer 80%, of the fishing quotas granted to the EU; think you have reached your limit. At this point there is not much more to do.

Among other things, the diplomats in Brussels fear that some unexpected measure is about to enter the budget law that Her Majesty's government is about to introduce and that it could grant powers to the various ministries to avoid a possible "trade separation" of Northern Ireland. From United Kingdom. A measure that Barnier warned would lead to the immediate breakdown of any negotiations.

Yet some circles in London have the impression that all this is nothing more than a diplomatic game by the EU to drag the negotiations into 2021. We will soon see who was right.


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The article BREXIT IN DROPS: Barnier warns to prepare for the No Deal, but European governments hope to keep going until 2021 comes from ScenariEconomici.it .


This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/brexit-agli-sgoccioli-barnier-avvisa-di-preparasi-al-no-deal-ma-i-governi-europei-sperano-di-tirare-avanti-fino-al-2021/ on Wed, 02 Dec 2020 17:03:53 +0000.