Brexit: the most critical weekend

LONDON. Negotiations on the EU trade agreement are at an extremely critical juncture. – Britain, with negotiators setting Monday as the “deadline” for parliaments to ratify the budding agreement before the 31 December deadline. France denied the optimism expressed on Thursday, noting that in the event that the agreement is not satisfactory, Paris retains the right to veto, as do all other EU countries.

At the end of the year, the transitional period that began after Britain left the EU ends. If no agreement is reached, significant barriers to trade between the two banks of the English Channel will be raised, as EU trade relations – Britain will be governed by the status of the World Trade Organization. “There is a risk that we will not reach an agreement. “We must not hide it, because there are businesses, fishermen, citizens, who need to know and we need to be prepared for a possible disagreement,” said French Minister for European Affairs Clement Bonn. “This means that on 31 December our free movement and free access to the UK market will cease and vice versa.” The French official stressed that “we do not want such a thing and negotiations are continuing with Michel Barnier, who is in London.”

Commission spokesman Barnier and British negotiator David Frost are continuing intensive talks in the basement of the British Treasury, the contents of which are little known. The lack of information seems to have worried some European capitals, who fear that the Commission may make bigger concessions than they are willing to accept. The central point of contention concerns the mechanism that will control that Britain will not take advantage of its exit from the EU. to compete unfairly with European companies. The EU proposal consists of the creation of a strict independent regulatory authority, which will fulfill this role.

Source: The Guardian, Huffington Post, Politico