The 15th of October final deadline set by the UK PM Johnson to reach a deal with the EU on Brexit has approached not so quickly, but both negotiating teams weren’t able to bridge the gap around the same sticking points:
- Level playing field
- Fishing
During the September- mid October round, there was limited progress on the first point by defining some terms of how strong would be the British commitments on governance and subsidy control. Fishing continues to be the biggest flashpoint for both the UK and EU sides, with the most potential to make or break the final deal.
The crucial European Council summit of 15 October failed to offer further clarity on what will happen in January 2021. Instead, it further disappointed the UK PM Johnson, whose spokesperson declared “The trade talks are over. The EU have effectively ended them by saying that they do not want to change their negotiating position.”
The UK PM Johnson articulated this threat long time before the Summit and when this deadline passed, his stance is now more likely to be interpreted as the EU must “come to us” with a new, substantially different offer if an agreement is going to be reached.
With a door being left half opened by the UK side, the EU Chief Negotiator, Michel Barnier is heading again to London on 19 October for further negotiations, as the EU finally agreed to intensify them…
