The EU's top Brexit negotiator has accused the UK of "backtracking on commitments" after further talks ended. He does not believe the current date set for the end of the transition period is likely to work.
Image: Reuters/Y. Herman
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The United Kingdom and the European Union wrapped up their fourth round of talks on a future trade deal on Friday, with the EU’s top negotiator Michel Barnier saying there have been little progress.
"My job is to tell the truth," Barnier told reporters. "And to tell the truth, this week there have been no real areas of progress."
"We cannot go on like this forever," he said, accusing the UK of refusing to budge on key issues and backtracking on a preliminary declaration agreed between the UK and the EU ahead of the Brexit date in January 2020.
"This declaration is not difficult to read," the French diplomat said. "It is available in all languages — even English," he added, switching from French to English.
"The UK continues to backtrack on the commitments made in this declaration," he said. "Even in those rare areas where we saw some conclusions, we fell short of what we agreed in the declaration."
The UK officially left the EU on January 31, with a transition period agreed to negotiate details of a future trade deal set to last until the end of 2020. The UK government has refused to consider extending the transition period, while the EU says they would be open to extending for a year or two.
Barnier said he does not see it as likely that talks on the customs union and a trade deal will reach conclusions by then.
There's a spectrum of options on Britain's future relationship with the EU, each with a distinct set of advantages and disadvantages. While euroskeptic purists favor a clean "hard Brexit," others favor a softer landing.
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Hard or soft options
It's essentially a choice of a harder or softer Brexit. Harder prioritizes border control over trade. UK firms would pay tariffs to do business in the EU, and vice versa. The softest Brexit would see access to the single market, or at least a customs union, maintained. That would require concessions — including the payment of a hefty "divorce bill" — to which the UK has provisionally agreed.
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A leap into the unknown
Businesses have expressed concern about a "cliff edge" scenario, where Britain leaves the EU with no deal. Even if an agreement is reached at the EU bloc level, the worry is that it could be rejected at the last minute. Each of the 27 remaining countries must ratify the arrangements, and any might reject them. That could mean chaos for businesses and individuals.
If there is no agreement at all, a fully sovereign UK would be free to strike new trade deals and need not make concessions on the rights of EU citizens living in the UK or pay the financial settlement of outstanding liabilities. However, trade would be crippled. UK citizens in other parts of the EU would be at the mercy of host governments. There would also be a hard EU-UK border in Ireland.
Image: Imago
Divorce-only deal
The EU and the UK could reach a deal on Britain's exiting the bloc without an agreement on future relations. This scenario would still be a very hard Brexit, but would at least demonstrate a degree of mutual understanding. Trade agreements would be conducted, on an interim basis, on World Trade Organization rules.
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Limited arrangement, like with Canada
Most trade tariffs on exported goods are lifted, except for "sensitive" food items like eggs and poultry. However, exporters would have to show their products are genuinely "made in Britain" so the UK does not become a "back door" for global goods to enter the EU. Services could be hit more. The City of London would lose access to the passporting system its lucrative financial business relies on.
Under the Swiss model, the UK would have single market access for goods and services while retaining most aspects of national sovereignty. Switzerland, unlike other members of the European Free Trade Area (EFTA), did not join the European Economic Area (EEA) and was not automatically obliged to adopt freedom of movement. Under a bilateral deal, it agreed to do so but is still dragging its feet.
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The Norway way
As part of the European Economic Area, Norway has accepted freedom of movement – something that no Brexit-supporting UK government would be likely to do. Norway still has to obey many EU rules and is obliged to make a financial contribution to the bloc while having no voting rights. Some see this as the worst of both worlds.
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A Turkey-style customs union
Turkey is the only major country to have a customs union with the EU, as part of a bilateral agreement. Under such an arrangement, the UK would not be allowed to negotiate trade deals outside the EU, instead having the bloc negotiate on its behalf. Many Brexiteers would be unwilling to accept this. It would, however, help minimize disruption at ports and, crucially, at the Irish border.
Image: Reuters/N. Hall
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UK: 'Negotiations must intensify'
The UK’s chief negotiator David Frost also acknowledged that "progress had been limited," but he struck a more optimistic note.
"Negotiations will continue and we remain committed to a successful outcome," he said. "We are close to reaching the limits of what we can achieve through the format of formal rounds. If we are to make progress, it is clear we must intensify and accelerate our work."
Key sticking points in negotiations are fisheries and the issue of the land border the UK shares with the EU between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Barnier also expressed frustration that the UK would not consider talks on joint defense or foreign affairs policies.
"The UK does not want to talk about foreign policy and defense, even though we agreed this with [UK Prime Minister] Boris Johnson," he said. "As a former Foreign Minister in my own country, I simply don’t understand why."
The next round of talks is scheduled for June. Barnier and Frost did not rule out the possibility that direct talks between Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen may be in the works. Barnier also said he hoped that the next round of talks could take place face-to-face as Europe re-opens borders closed owing to the coronavirus pandemic.
How do Brits feel about the Brexit trade negotiations?
