ALL 27 EU member states must still approve any UK trade deal, warns Council president
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European Council President Charles Michel warned today that any agreement between UK and EU negotiators must still be approved by all 27 member states.
Michel said the 27 leaders – meeting remotely on 10 and 11 December – will take a position on the latest developments, as a deal on future relations between the EU and Britain hangs in the balance, according to a Reuters report.
“It’s unfortunate that it took longer than planned, but we’re still currently negotiating,” Michel reportedly told a news conference. “We’ll see over the next few days what the next steps are at this point in the negotiations.”
He said the European Commission, which is negotiating with Britain on behalf of the 27 EU countries, will inform member states of the result of the negotiations once they are concluded.
“We want a deal but not at any price,” Michel said. “For the European Union … the ‘level playing field’ is key.”
Final approval
Michel reportedly said any final approval by the 27 EU leaders would depend on the “balance” of any deal, especially on the most thorny issues: agreeing access to fishing waters and sharing out fishing rights, finding ways to settle disputes, and ensuring a “level playing field”, or fair competition for companies.
Michel said it was essential to ensure that any deal was acceptable to the whole bloc, and that the UK had to decide if it wanted to sign up to ambitious social, labour and environment production standards to get a deal.
“If one side of the table rejects (a tentative agreement), it’s a no-deal,” Michel said. “We will need to assess what will be probably on the table.
“The real question is, which political, economic, social project do they want for their own future? And this is a question for the British government and for the British people.”