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Bloomberg
Negotiators are drawing closer to a historic post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and European Union (EU), with officials increasingly hopeful an accord could be struck soon.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen intervened personally in recent days, holding several phone conversations in a last-ditch bid to reach an agreement before the UK leaves the single market at the end of the month.
Negotiations resumed early on Wednesday in the Commission’s Berlaymont headquarters in Brussels, with discussions focused on two key disagreements over fish: what access EU boats will have to British waters, and what rights the EU will have to impose retaliatory tariffs should the UK limit that access in the future.
Both sides have made an agreement on fishing a precondition for any wider deal over their future relationship, even if the 650 million euros of fish EU boats catch in UK waters each year is a fraction of the 512 billion euros of goods traded between Britain and the bloc each year.
Diplomats in the EU’s working group have discussed how a potential agreement could be put into effect by Jan. 1 in the absence of sufficient time for formal ratification by the EU Parliament.