The next round of talks between David Frost and the EU's Michel Barnier take place next week
Despite the fear, the misery and the suffocating uncertainty of Covid-19, by
now you've no doubt heard on the
Brussels-Paris-Berlin-Dublin-Belfast-London grapevine: the post-Brexit
trade talks between the EU and the UK are in trouble.To get more news
about
PGWG, you can visit wikifx news official website.
Sure, there's agreement in basic free trade discussions but clashes on key
issues remain. On Tuesday, Ireland's Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said
the two sides looked like they were heading for a crisis which, from
the Irish perspective, was “very, very serious”.
So, should we be concerned?
Ok, I'm being intentionally provocative. I'm hoping you'll peruse this blog
on Brexit even though you're drowning in must-reads on coronavirus. But
I certainly don't mean to be flippant.
Image copyrightEuropean Commission
The fact is: a crisis was always predicted in EU-UK trade talks. They are
multi-layered and complicated. The first time ever in trade negotiations
that two parties are focused on loosening the ties that bind them (now
the UK is no longer an EU member state) rather than creating new and
closer bonds.
What the two sides want
The UK seeks more than a basic economic relationship with the EU, whatever impression some UK politicians may seek to give.
For example, the UK government hopes to continue to benefit from EU-wide
data sharing arrangements. It wants access to the central intelligence
database of the EU's law enforcement agency Europol. Germany is not at
all keen on that idea. It says once you've left the club, forget the
perks. You can't have your cake and eat it.
The two sides want to work together in research and development, transport, chemical waste,
law enforcement and judicial co-operation. Then there's the contentious
issue of fish: to what extent EU fishermen will be allowed access UK
waters.
Here, the UK turns the tables and accuses Brussels of trying the cake-and-eating-it routine. The EU wants to keep the same
fishing quotas as when the UK was a member state. And if there's no
agreement on fishing, the EU threatens, there'll be no trade deal at
all..
The EU is also deeply concerned about possible unfair competition. UK businesses know the EU market well and have great
contacts after more than 40 years of membership.
Brussels worries that if the UK slashes regulations such as labour, state aid and/or
environmental rules in the future, then that will give UK businesses an
advantage over European ones in their own single market. So, the EU
wants a commitment from the UK to keep in line with its competition
regulations long after Brexit. Something the UK says as a sovereign
country it cannot and will not do.
It points out the EU did not impose similar demands on Canada in their zero-tariff, zero-quota trade deal.
The EU response: Canada doesn't have zero tariffs, zero quotas in all areas
such as agriculture. UK farmers presumably wouldn't be thrilled, says
Brussels, if they were left out in the cold.
Also, EU leaders, such as Germany's Angela Merkel, view the UK as a far bigger threat on their
doorstep. Geographically far closer than Canada; trade volumes far
higher.
