EU negotiator Michel Barnier yesterday said there was a “narrow path” to a post-Brexit trade deal with the UK, as key sticking points remain after both sides abandoned a supposed make-or-break deadline.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday pledged to “go the extra mile” as they sidestepped a self-imposed cutoff point to end talks if there was no progress toward a pact.
Johnson said it remains “most likely” that the UK would crash out of the globe’s largest single market on WTO terms by year’s end as the two sides spar over regulating future standards and fishing.
Photo: EPA-EFE
However, Von der Leyen yesterday said: “There is movement. That is good.”
“We are on the very last mile to go, but it is an essential one,” she told a conference organized by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
An EU diplomat said following a briefing from Barnier that “there might now be a narrow path to an agreement visible — negotiators can clear the remaining hurdles in the next few days.”
“There has been some progress in the negotiations over the last few days, but — sometimes substantial — gaps still need to be bridged in important areas like fisheries, governance and level playing field,” the diplomat said.
An EU source said there had been “fragile” progress.
The source said there had been steps toward determining a mechanism to regulate future divergences in standards, but that there were seriously blockages “on all fronts” on the issue of fishing rights.
“If there is progress on fishing, then we could have an agreement in the coming days,” the official said.
Barnier was to sit down yesterday in Brussels with his British counterpart, David Frost, for the latest round of talks aimed at thrashings out a deal before the UK leaves the EU’s single market on Dec. 31.
The chief EU negotiator said on Twitter that “the next few days are important” if a deal could be found, adding that the two sides had a “responsibility to give the talks every chance of success.”
Von der Leyen and Johnson have not set a new deadline as the definitive end date looms in just 18 days and there are fears that the talks could go right to the wire.
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