EU wants Brexit trade deal wrapped up with the UK by Friday
Brussels officials are reportedly pushing for a UK-EU trade deal to be completed by tomorrow to avoid significant disruption when the Brexit transition period ends on 31 December.
Talks between UK and EU negotiators are still deadlocked, with Brussels now warning that the European parliament will find it hard to ratify a deal before the end of 2020 if it is not closed in the coming days.
Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney said today that “it’s a time to hold our nerve” and that a deal could be closed in the coming days.
Chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier is in London this week for intensive in-person Brexit negotiations with his UK counterpart Lord David Frost.
Barnier met with EU ambassadors virtually yesterday, with France’s representative pushing for the negotiator to go for a no-deal if the UK does not make any more concessions.
A source close to Barnier told the Irish Times today that if a deal is to be done it needs to be closed by tomorrow to avoid chaos on 1 January when the UK leaves the EU’s customs union and single market.
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The source said: “The point Barnier was making to Frost was if we don’t have a deal or at least something over the next day or so, we can’t guarantee there will be a deal by 1 January.
“Even if we get a deal in 10 days time, if we run down the clock too much, there is a very real risk that the deal can’t be ratified in time. We need to put an end to this somehow.”
Coveney told Irish media this morning: “It’s a time to hold our nerve, to trust Michel Barnier.
““If we do that there’s a good chance we can get a deal in the next few days.”
Coveney is travelling to Paris today to warn the French that time was running out and that a deal needed to be struck.
French demands over fisheries access to UK waters is now seen as the largest barrier to a post-Brexit trade deal.
Barnier is asking for EU countries to maintain access to 80 per cent of the value of fish in British waters that they had pre-Brexit.
The Times reports that the UK’s latest offer to Brussels is for them keep 40 per cent – a figure turned down by Barnier.