Brexit Talks Resumes: Deal Or No Deal?

Brexit Talks Resumes: Deal
Or No Deal?

The Covid-19 pandemic had struck the world for the past few months, jeopardizing
the global economy while halting schools, businesses, and constructions.
Besides that, Brexit negotiations that were supposed to continue since early
2020 was also paused as the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) had
their hands tied to dealing with the pandemic. As new infections from both
sides ease, negotiations on Brexit is now placed back onto the table.

With
less than five months until the December 31 deadline, both the UK and EU are
racing to strike a deal to prevent further economic damage aside from the
pandemic’s impact. Failure to reach a deal would leave both sides trading with
tariffs and quotas, under the terms set by the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Although a deal would be beneficial one-sided, however, a no-deal scenario
would harm both sides.

That
said, both sides are still unlikely to reach a deal when they meet up for the
latest round of talks late Friday. The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier,
and UK’s negotiator, David Frost, are expected to highlight the key sticking
points such as EU’s fishing rights on UK waters. According to previous
negotiations, the UK claimed that giving EU vessels access to fish in their
waters is an issue of sovereignty. They are pushing for talks about setting how
many fish EU boats can be allocated while giving the UK boats a bigger share of
the catch. Barnier said that UK’s request is merely asking for near-total
exclusion of EU fishing vessels on UK waters.

Another
sticking point in the Brexit deal is post-Brexit competition, known as ‘level
playing field’ provisions. The EU claimed that the UK demands the same level of
access to its single market as they had before Brexit. The UK is currently
requesting for British truckers to be allowed to continue making pick-ups and
drop-offs throughout the EU.

Although
both sides are saying that a deal can still be reach, however, Frost mentioned
that the government must be ready to face the possibility of no-deal Brexit.
Pessimism rises as the final round of negotiations is set on October 2, where
any agreement should be compiled by then and ratified if needed before December
31.

Photo Credit: www.ft.com