British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is scheduled to travel to Brussels on Wednesday to hold face-to-face talks with European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen as a last resort to sign a trade agreement and avoid any unrest in the next 3 weeks.
Market concerns are mounting as there is still a possibility of a ‘no deal’ situation ahead of the full UK withdrawal deadline of 31 December. Johnson will meet Leyen during dinner today in the hope that there will be a chance to get a deal.
Sources from the British administration say the deal may not be reachable as partially as stated by EU Brexit chief negotiator Michel Barnier.
The main dispute is still the fishing rights in British waters, ensuring fair competition for companies on both sides and how to resolve disputes in the future.
According to Merkel, if the conditions proposed by the UK are unacceptable to the EU then the EU will not hesitate to drop the agreement. On the other hand, the UK issued a similar statement through Michael Gove that the EU should compromise if it wants an agreement.
Britain officially left the EU in January, and is currently in the transition phase. During this period the UK was still under EU trade rules. However, all of that will end on December 31 and if at that time there is no agreement then both parties will have to bear the cost of trade worth $ 1 trillion dollars a year.
