The U.K.’s chief Brexit negotiator David Frost leaves a meeting with European Commission negotiators in Brussels, Belgium, on Dec. 7, 2020.
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Negotiations between the U.K. and the European Union on their post-Brexit trade relationship were still in a standoff on Monday, with conflicting leaks from both sides ahead of a crucial summit of European leaders later this week.
- Preparations for a disorderly exit of the U.K. from the European single market in just 24 days were being ramped up, even as voices in both camps were expressing hope that a deal is still possible in time to be ratified before the end of the year.
- EU negotiator Michel Barnier was “rather downbeat” at the prospect of a deal as of Monday morning, as he shared coffee with EU diplomats, said a source quoted by Reuters.
- Sterling was losing more than 1% on Monday against the euro and 1.3% against the dollar, as investors began to focus on the possibility of a “no-deal” Brexit.
- A deal might be in sight on the issue of fishing in British waters, according to the Guardian, but the EU and the U.K. remain far apart on their most serious difference — can the latter abide by a “level playing field” as the price of benefiting from tariff-free access to the EU market?
- The U.K. government has begun assessing the consequences of crashing out of the EU at the end of the month, in a document detailing the “reasonable worst-case scenario planning assumptions”, according to broadcaster ITV.
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The outlook: The EU can concede on fisheries but remains steadfast on its demand to see the U.K. abide by basic rules to outlaw unfair competition. In any other trade talks of a similar type, a deal would have been struck long ago, based on economic realities.
But Brexit for the U.K. is also a matter of political symbolism, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson, said to be eager for a deal, will also have the difficult task of “selling” it domestically to the most virulent Brexiteer wing of his ruling Conservative Party.
Brexit, on the other hand, is not a domestically sensitive issue in Europe (it is hardly ever featured on the newspapers’ front pages), giving EU leaders more latitude to focus on the harsh realities of their economic interests.
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