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LAST UPDATE | 9 Dec 2020
BRITISH PRIME MINISTER Boris Johnson and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen have agreed to decide by Sunday whether their Brexit talks are worth continuing, Downing Street said, noting “very large gaps” still remain.
The two leaders met this evening to try to salvage negotiations following stalled talks just weeks ahead of the end of the transition period on 31 December.
Over a lengthy dinner in Brussels, the two leaders “had a frank discussion about the significant obstacles which remain in the negotiations”, a senior Number 10 source said.
“Very large gaps remain between the two sides and it is still unclear whether these can be bridged.”
The leaders agreed to further discussions by their negotiating teams “over the next few days”, the source said.
“The PM does not want to leave any route to a possible deal untested.
“The PM and VDL agreed that by Sunday a firm decision should be taken about the future of the talks.”
In a statement after the meeting, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said: “We had a lively and interesting discussion on the state of play across the list of outstanding issues.
“We gained a clear understanding of each other’s positions. They remain far apart.
“We agreed that the teams should immediately reconvene to try to resolve these essential issues.
“We will come to a decision by the end of the weekend.”
We had a lively & interesting discussion on the state of play on outstanding issues.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) December 9, 2020
We understand each other’s positions. They remain far apart.
The teams should immediately reconvene to try to resolve these issues. We will come to a decision by the end of the weekend. pic.twitter.com/jG0Mfg35YX
Stumbling block
The so-called level playing field has been a key stumbling block in the talks, as has the extent of EU access to British fishing waters.
Johnson said Brussels’ proposals on fishing would mean Britain would be “the only country in the world not to have sovereign control over its fishing waters”.
“These are not terms that any prime minister of this country should accept,” he told MPs in his weekly question and answer session.
Britain formally left the EU on 31 January, nearly four years after a referendum on membership that divided the country and paralysed politics.
The end of a transition period, designed to allow both sides to thrash out the terms of their new relationship, is approaching on 31 December, making agreement on a deal more urgent.
Whatever happens, Britain will leave the European customs union and single market. Johnson said deal or no deal, the country will “prosper mightily”.
By retaking control of UK money, borders and laws, “we will seize all of the opportunities that Brexit brings”, he said.
But Johnson is under strong pressure from businesses, which want greater clarity on the new rules that will apply from 1 January.
Dinner
The Prime Minister and the EU chief were to discuss ongoing attempts to reach a breakthrough on a post-Brexit trade deal, although the meal was a formal negotiating session.
Ahead of the meeting, Von der Leyen said that she was “looking forward” to welcoming the British Prime Minister, tweeting: “We will continue our discussion on the Partnership Agreement.”
Downing Street hoped the dinner could pave the way for talks between negotiators Barnier and his UK counterpart David Frost to resume, but there were warnings that Johnson and von der Leyen must find the will to break the deadlock first.
However, Taoiseach Micheál Martin told the Dáil yesterday that the move should not be interpreted as a signal that a deal was imminent.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that yesterday was a “historic day” that would ensure the Northern Ireland Protocol would be respected regardless of the outcome of trade talks.
The Fine Gael leader also said he agreed with a previous suggestion by Martin that there was a “50-50″ chance of a deal being reached.
“I think that assessment is correct,” Varadkar said.
At the Fine Gael parliamentary party tonight, Varadkar said the divorce deal agreed with former Prime Minister Theresa May three years ago had proved to be bulletproof.
This is based on there being no hard border on the island of Ireland and access to the European Single Market and Common Travel Area have been protected.
The Fine Gael leader told party colleagues that this progress was made because of EU solidarity and unity.
Varadkar added that there may not be a breakthrough on trade negotiations tonight, but negotiations would continue.
The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier warned the bloc’s foreign ministers that he now believes a no-deal Brexit is more likely than a trade agreement being reached by the end of the transition period on 31 December.
Leaders of the EU’s 27 member states will gather in Brussels tomorrow for a two-day summit, potentially giving further political impetus for a deal.
Senior UK Cabinet minister Michael Gove said this morning that the EU will have to give ground if there is to be any hope of a breakthrough in the crunch talks.
Asked about Barnier’s assessment, he said: “No, I don’t think it is right to say that yet.”
“I think that tonight there is an opportunity for the Prime Minister and Ursula von der Leyen, and they have a good relationship, to thrash out a potential way through,” he told BBC Radio 4.
Gove also said that von der Leyen would “want to ensure that all EU member states recognise that a deal is in everyone’s interest and that will require a degree of movement for some on the EU side”.
That comment could be seen as a reference to French warnings that President Emmanuel Macron could veto a deal, with Paris especially concerned about the issue of fishing rights – one of the main obstacles to an agreement
Talks paused
The EU and UK are hoping to establish a trade relationship with zero tariffs and zero quotas, which would avoid further disruptions from 1 January.
Talks between Frost and Barnier paused after both sides moved as close towards a deal as political red lines would allow.
Though a deal is reportedly 97% agreed, political leaders must make decisions on the final issues.
Negotiations have faltered on the same issues that have plagued negotiations from the start: fishing rights; the level playing field measures aimed at preventing the UK undercutting the EU on standards and state subsidies; and the way for trade disputes to be discussed and resolved.
Johnson said yesterday that trade talks with the EU are proving “very tricky”, but that he hoped the “power of sweet reason” would triumph.
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister also said that Frost was set to return to London last night to discuss the remaining differences in reaching a free trade deal with Johnson.
Today’s meeting between Johnson and von der Leyen follows an announcement yesterday by the UK that it would drop clauses in the Internal Market Bill that would have allowed ministers to break international law.
It means that the Northern Ireland Protocol – which would mean goods travelling from Britain to Ireland via the North will be checked after they cross the Irish Sea – can be implemented in practice.
With reporting from Gráinne Ní Aodha, Press Association, and AFP.
In the meantime get some barriers at the ends of Grafton St and Henry St. In all other European cities I’ve visited in the last year all pedestrian areas are blocked off with some form of barrier….
@Anne: well, that makes sense regardless of terrorism tbf.
@Anne: Sounds like FUTURE PROOFING to me I wonder why??
@Kian: no connection with migrants and the rise in crime and terrorist attacks? In Dublin we now have garda driving around with guns, I work in the hospital and they have a risk assessment of most likely major incident. Terrorism is second on the list!
@Sayitlikeitis: I’m just saying that even if terrorism wasn’t a threat, it’s a good idea to prevent accidents
@Treabhair Coulahan: rubbish
@Kian: so would you welcome balards on footpaths then? The thing is they are not there for accidents they are there for a reason. And it’s to prevent people killing others on purpose!
@Patrick Agnew: racist
@Sayitlikeitis: there are bollards on footpaths…why are you picking a fight?
@Anne: they are called ‘ Merkel Blocks’
Weren’t some of the trucks that were used in terrorist attacks hired for the day and not hijacked at all?
@Sean:
The better solution is not to welcome islam into ireland
@Martin Lintzgy: we are just getting rid of the feckin Pope and his likes…
@Martin Lintzgy: what if I told you I follow the Islamic faith myself? I’ve been here all my life and not caused much hassle
@Vincent: If saudi arabia were to let them it would ruin them. well that’s their argument and they’re sticking to it.
@Kian: If the cap doesn’t fit don’t wear it.
@Martin Lintzgy: racist and a clown.
It the lunatic driver that’s the problem not the truck. Stop letting undocumented illegals remain in European countries and deport them.
@nelly: correct me if I’m wrong but I think it was documented local-born citizens that did the deed in most cases
@Kian: that logical/reasonable answer wouldn’t be popular on here, Kian.. as many use terrorism to support their anti-immigrant/integration positions ..
@Kian: undocumented illegals=lunatics mkay
@Kian: 2nd generation.
@Kian: 2nd generation.
@Kian: off the top of my head…. Stockholm truck massacre… Not to mention the butchery in a swedish ikea store… Oh and the Stockholm suicide bomber who only blew him self up.. Though I would not want it thought i was using facts for any kind of agenda.
@Raymond Power:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_and_crime#Recent_immigration_to_Sweden Hello.. the picture is a wee bit more complex than cherry-picking a few recent crimes in Sweden..
If there was a terrorist attack in Dublin city centre – how quickly do you think that the defence forces top echelon could respond? from the Curragh? they have no helicopters at their base? By the time the air corps got pilots to helis, helis to curragh, rangers on board and flew to the city, whilst soldiers were pouring out of cathal brugha and mckee and trying to secure a perimeter – it would all be well over. Ireland has made a zero attempt to invest in defence either for domestic terrorism or for national defence – its not the militarys fault, they have the worst budget and biggest lack of investment of any military in europe. we cant keep specialists in their jobs, pilots, sailors, bomb disposal, special forces, because they make more working in the private sector.
@Ros Aodha: they did a drill last year and response time was 7 minutes I think. There are military staff based in Dublin you know
@Kian: 7 minutes for armed detectives and garda armed support unit only.
Do you honestly think that there are tooled up terrorist incident trained military units sitting in a room waiting for a green light? the only unit in the defence forces trained to deal with domestic terrorism is the Army Ranger Wing. They are based in the curragh and not in the barracks in dublin. Yes there are small armed response teams in the barracks, but their primary concern is the protection of their own barracks. Anyone else would need to get to an armoury and be armed then formed up and moved to the location, that would take far more than 7 minutes and that ONLY after a call from the Gardai has come through the justice minister to the defence minister to HQ to the unit..
Rangers would take at least 40 minutes to get into the city, either from waiting for a heli to fly across from baldonnel to pick them up or by driving down the N7, even with a garda escort.
I can only imagine that the ERU, if not on standby would take a slightly shorter but similar time to form up and respond.
@Kian: 7 minutes, and they knew there was going to be a drill.
@Ros Aodha: Dublin is not the centre of Ireland.
Trucks are evil and should be banned
@Conor Walsh: a good guy with a truck could stop a bad guy with a truck
@Conor Walsh: Gullible youth plus radical preacher plus Koran plus ordinary truck equals mayhem.
@Conor Walsh: stop buying $hit so & we can.
Give the trucks guns.
We could use barriers on the south end of the seafront promenade in Bray.
The Government will install barriers on Grafton Street after a Terrorist Attack.
Close the gate after the horse has Bolted!
Best way to stop these attacks is intelligence gathering and having the capability to respond. So long as we hide behind a not-in-the-constitution, non-existent, imaginary, fence-sitting, fake. neutrality and continue to massively under-invest in defence, (lowest spend in Europe) all the bollards in the world will not make our country a safer place and we will continue to put citizens lives in danger.
Because Dublin City is a terrible city for traffic as it doesn’t work for anyone, buses, cars, even luas its ways jammed, I think a truck ramming into people would be quite diffcult to get speed etc.
I would ban all religion in Ireland even Islam, religion is an evil the world doesnt need.
@Lisa Byrne: There’s nothing wrong with religion, it gives people hope and for many it’s a source of comfort. Yes, you or I may see it as a fairy tale but what good can come from telling people what they can and can’t put their faith in?
@Lisa Byrne: Some religions are more evil than others.
@Edward Smith: yeah. The Catholic Church tips the list.
It’s “Ploughed” not “Plowed”. We’re not in the States. Trump isn’t the boss here, there’s no cricket noises in the evening, there’s no Walmart thank God and no Uber either thankfully
“… to develop a new type of truck fitted with an impregnable security system”
According to the dictionary, impregnable means “unable to be captured or broken into”
I’m unsure if the word “impregnable” was used by The Journal or by WIT. Either way, there is no such thing as impregnable security just systems which are easier and tougher to crack. Having perfection as a goal is a noble idea but will simply not reflect reality. At best they may make it tougher to commandeer a vehicle for nefarious purposes, at worst they may leave an unbeknownst back-door for wanton exploitation.
Software security in the automobile industry has already proven itself to be quite lacking – car manufacturers are not software security experts. A rudimentary search on Google for “hacking cars” will return some concerning results.
Eemmmm…dont let them in. Prevention is better than…
Necessity IS the mother of all invention.
Satellites are constantly scanning for cats??! I have to admit i am totally confused by what this is meant to mean …
@Gary Rowe: they’re called CAT scans.
Amazing how all this new technology is going to work seamlessly. Yet I can only get broadband at my home about half the time and even at that, very erratically? We’d need to roll out existing technology first before adding new stuff into the mix. Just like building a house. The foundation must be set in place first. Basic stuff really.
@Ian Oh: GPS and it’s signals do not have any bearing on your broadband at home or any other broadband for that matter.
AK BAR BARISM
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