UK and EU to enter crunch final weeks in Brexit negotiations
The UK and EU are moving toward the final stages of Brexit trade talks, with the chances of a deal reportedly improving.
The ninth round of formal negotiations will begin on Tuesday, with both sides having made late concessions, according to the Sunday Times.
Senior sources told the Times that Michael Gove has been pressuring Boris Johnson to get a deal done out of concern of what a no-deal Brexit and potential second Covid wave would do to the economy.
Fears escalated weeks ago that the UK was on its way to leaving the EU customs union and single market on 31 December without a deal, after Johnson brought forward legislation that could breach the Brexit withdrawal treaty.
However, chief UK negotiator Lord David Frost and his EU counterpart Michel Barnier are reportedly set to hammer out the final details of a deal one-on-one over a two-week period starting at the end of next week.
Frost has reportedly budged on his refusal to accept Brussels’ demands that the UK adopt the EU’s state subsidy rules as a part of a level playing field for businesses on both sides of the channel.
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The UK will likely accept some rules as dictated by the EU as to how much the government can subsidise companies in order to secure zero-tariff trade with European nations.
The EU is also reportedly prepared to ensure that there is free movement of goods between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
Frost told the Sunday Times: “An agreement is still very much possible, but equally very far from certain. The last two weeks of informal talks have been relatively positive, but there remains much to be done and time is short.
“If the gaps in these areas are to be bridged, the EU still needs to scale back more of its unrealistic ambitions and work on more realistic policy positions. I hope this will be possible this coming week and I and my team are ready to work as hard as necessary to move things forward.”
Both sides have set mid-October as a deadline for a deal to be done as the European parliament needs time to ratify any agreement.
The UK has also said that local businesses will need some time to prepare for any changes.