translated from Spanish: Britain and EU say they will continue to negotiate Brexit

Britain and the European Union agreed to continue negotiations on a free trade agreement, which would avoid a chaotic situation for cross-border traders and give some certainty to businesses after years of doubts around Brexit.British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen , abandoned a self-imposed deadline and promised to “make an additional effort” to close a post-Brexit trade agreement that would avoid chaos and commercial costs starting on New Year’s Eve.” Where there is life, there is hope,” Johnson said, offering a kind of justification for continuing the talks that have scoured for most of the year and must end before 1 January, when the transition period for Britain ends, which divorced the EU in January. With hundreds of thousands of jobs and tens of billions in trade at stake, Von der Leyen said after his phone call with Johnson that “we both believe it’s responsible right now to make an extra effort.” All this, he added, “despite the exhaustion after almost a year of negotiations and even though the deadlines have been breached over and over again.” Less than three weeks after the final breakup with the EU, there are key unresolved aspects of the future relationship between the bloc of 27 countries and Britain.It has been four and a half years since the British decided, with 52% of votes in favour and 48% against, to leave the EU and, as the motto of Brexit supporters said , “regain control” of British laws and borders. It took more than three years of haggling until Britain left the bloc’s political institutions on 31 January last year. Disconnecting tightly linked economies within the European single market for goods and services has taken even longer. Britain has remained within the single market and customs union for an 11-month transition period. That implies that, for now, many have not noticed the impact of Brexit.On January 1, it will come true. New Year’s Day will bring huge changes with or without agreement. Neither people nor goods can continue to move unrestrictedly between Britain and its bloc’s neighbours. Exporters and importers will face customs declarations, merchandise checks and other locks. EU citizens will no longer be able to live and work in Britain without a visa — although that does not affect the more than 3 million who are already there — and the British will no longer be able to work or withdraw automatically in the EU. There are still unresolved issues on large issues such as security cooperation or eu market access for the huge British financial services sector. Without agreement, Britain will trade with the bloc on the terms set by the World Trade Organization, with all the tariffs and obstacles that entails. Britain has admitted that chaotic departure is likely to cause traffic jams at British ports, temporary desupply of some products, and price hikes in basic foodstlings. Tariffs will apply to many British products, including one of 10% on cars and one for more than 40% on lamb. Still, Johnson said the country will “prosper enormously” in those terms. To drive the battered talks, negotiators have set several deadlines, but none have managed to bring positions on trade standards issues, legal oversight of European fishermen’s agreements and rights to fish in British waters. Although both sides want to agree on the terms of the new relationship, they have fundamentally different views on what that entails. The EU fears that Britain will cut social and environmental standards and inject state money into British industry, becoming a rival with little economic regulation so that it demands strict guarantees of competition in exchange for market access. For its part, the British government states that the EU tries to tie it to Community rules and regulations indefinitely, rather than treating it as an independent country. Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya said an unin agreementd Brexit would be a double blow to economies already affected by the coronavirus pandemic.” It is clear that when you establish a trade agreement you are a sovereign nation, they are made to manage interdependence”, fixed to Sky News. “The United Kingdom and the European Union are interdependent, so we reach an agreement that reflects the need to manage interdependence.” La beligerantand british tabloid press urged Johnson to stand firm and raised the possibility of Navy ships patrusing British waters to prevent European vessels from entering. But others, in Britain and throughout the EU, urged both sides to continue their dialogue. Ireland’s Prime Minister Micheál Martin, who runs the European economy most closely linked to Britain, said he hoped “fervently” that the talks would not end on Sunday.” It is absolutely imperative that both sides remain involved and both sides continue to negotiate to avoid an un agreed exit,” Martin told the BBC. “Just because there’s no agreement would be very bad for all of us (…) We are interdependent.” Even at the last minute, in my opinion there is an option for the UK and the European Union to conclude an agreement that is in everyone’s interest.”



Original source in Spanish

Related Posts

Add Comment