BRUSSELS: After Prime Minister Boris Johnson and EU Leader Ursula von der Leyen decided to abandon their expected make-or-break deadline, British and European negotiators were sent back to work on Sunday.
Last week the pair had said they would determine if a compromise was feasible by the end of Sunday, but they decided to go the extra mile” following a cross-channel crisis call.
“This morning, we had a useful conference call. In a video chat, von der Leyen said, reading out a joint statement decided with Johnson, we discussed the big unresolved topics.
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“In recent days, our negotiating teams have been working night and day.”
Michel Barnier of the EU and David Frost of Britain held talks late on Saturday and early on Sunday. They have alternated between capitals, but a European official has said that they will stay in Brussels at the moment.
Johnson says the two sides still far apart on key issues
In the midst of news that the parties are nearing an agreement about how to respond if their rules diverge over time and impede equal competition, Johnson said Britain “would be as creative as we can”.
But Britain was unable to agree on Brexit’s “fundamental nature,” regulating UK regulation and fisheries, he added.
Cross-channel trade would return to WTO rules without a trade pact, with tariffs pushing up rates and producing paperwork for importers, and broken agreements could poison London-Brussels ties for years to come.
If trade with its greater neighbour is affected, Ireland stands to miss out more than other EU nations, and Foreign Minister Simon Coveney cautiously accepted the reprieve for talks.
Time to keep our nerve and allow the negotiators, even at this late point, to make progress forward. A strong signal is the joint declaration on the Brexit talks. A contract that’s definitely really complicated, but possible,’ he tweeted.
In Johnson’s own British Nationalists, the hardline pro-Brexit contingent remained unconvinced, however and fired a warning shot.
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“Welsh MP David Jones tweeted: “If the EU can finally accept the authority of the United Kingdom, abandon proposals for the control of the ECJ and recognise that we have the right to tell who is fishing in our waters, we can still get an agreement. “Otherwise the prolongation of this process seems to have little purpose.”
In Johnson’s own British Nationalists, the hardline pro-Brexit contingent remained unconvinced, however and fired a warning shot.
“Welsh MP David Jones tweeted: “If the EU can finally accept the authority of the United Kingdom, abandon proposals for the control of the ECJ and recognise that we have the right to tell who is fishing in our waters, we can still get an agreement. “Otherwise the prolongation of this process seems to have little purpose.
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