What happens in the Brexit talks? | Brexit

Is this the final chapter in the negotiations?
Time has run out and both sides realize that trade and security negotiations have ended or are over only three weeks ago before the UK leaves the EU single market and the customs union. Perhaps only 48 hours remain in the negotiations. The British negotiating team led by David Frost was booked in the basement of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills in Whitehall with Michel Barnier and the European Union team. Upon arriving at the department on Friday, Barnier told reporters that it was “a very important day”.

Will there be an agreement?
It appears to be increasingly likely but for four long years Brixi The process may have some twists and turns left in the future. The UK team claimed Thursday evening that the negotiations had taken a big step back due to new EU demands resulting from French pressure.

The European Union has reportedly begun to press for more and tougher guarantees regarding the role of the UK subsidy regulator, or state aid, a claim that Brussels has explicitly rejected. But the sources admit that the issue is still difficult. The European Union wants to give the domestic regulator the power to approve or block subsidies based on the common EU-UK principles written in the treaty. The regulator’s failure to abide by principles would give the European Union the opportunity to respond unilaterally with tariffs on British goods or even suspending part of the trade deal.

France has said it will not tolerate a deal that provides a potential competitive advantage for British companies in the European market. Clément Bonn, France’s EU affairs minister, said Paris was ready to veto the deal if needed. The agreement will require consensus among the 27 member states.

And the French are not the only ones feeling nervous. Denmark, the Netherlands, Italy and Belgium are concerned that Barnier may give up too much of the deal. Meanwhile, Boris Johnson is repeating his slogan that he is ready to leave the transition period on “Australian terms,” ​​a phrase Kafka uses to describe exit without a deal. Australia does not have a trade agreement with the European Union.

Is this just a last-minute theater?
Certainly one would expect a sudden eruption of positions on both sides regarding the crucial hours. A hard-line stance might win that little extra floor in the bargaining room. The crisis could lead to an anticipated “political moment”: an arbitration involving the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and Johnson. But there are real principles at stake. Germany holds the rotating presidency of the European Union and called on Barnier to address the ambassadors in Brussels on Wednesday, as some European capitals were wary of a lack of information about the most controversial parts of the deal: access to UK fishing waters and maintaining equal opportunity through equivalent regulations and standards. To monitor support over time. But it didn’t calm nerves. Barnier was warned that he was approaching, if not walking, the red lines of his negotiating mandate.

what is happening now?
More talks over the weekend. The moment of truth is expected to come on Sunday evening or Monday morning. The internal market bill returns to the House of Commons on Monday. The government said it would return the contentious provisions that the Lords abolished, Violating international law By overriding the terms of the Northern Ireland Protocol in the Withdrawal Agreement.

On Wednesday, it is expected that the Finance Bill, which violates international law, will be introduced again by canceling other provisions of the treaty. If the government goes ahead with these legislation, it will show that all hopes for a deal are over. The European Union has made it clear that it will not agree to a deal if Downing Street proceeds to rewrite the withdrawal agreement unilaterally. But the good money is at a bargain that makes contentious items redundant.