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The telegraph
EU countries “impatient” about the lack of progress on Brexit, says Angela Merkel
EU governments are growing impatient over the lack of progress in Brexit negotiations, Angela Merkel said on Monday. The German Chancellor said Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, was “getting more and more involved” in the trade talks, a sign that they were entering the final game. He said the negotiations, which remain stalled on critical fisheries issues, the guarantees of a level playing field and the implementation of the agreement were “difficult and challenging”. “Some member states are getting a little impatient,” Ms Merkel said in an online event, “there isn’t much time left.” He added that his fellow EU leaders wanted a trade deal, but “not at any price”. In Madrid, the French minister for Europe warned that Paris would not allow French fishermen to be sacrificed to close the deal. He said it was unacceptable for Britain to “set the law” in the negotiations. “Our fishermen are no less important than theirs and did not have the right to vote in the referendum,” Clement Beaune, visiting the Spanish capital, told reporters. “There can be no deal unless there is one that gives sustainable and wide-ranging access to British waters,” he said. The Irish foreign minister told the British government to stop the “blame game” over stalled negotiations because they refused to have more time for talks. “The British government was offered a much longer transition period, and they turned it down, but now they are blaming the EU for it – it’s just ridiculous,” Coveney told BBC Radio Ulster. “But I think a deal is possible because the consequences of no deal are so costly and so disruptive, particularly for the UK and Northern Ireland, but also for the Republic of Ireland.” “The truth about Brexit is now being exposed in terms of challenges,” he added. UK and EU negotiators are in a race against time to conclude a trade deal and ratify it by the end of the year with no expiry of the deal. it means that the UK trades with its main trading partner on less profitable terms than the WTO, with tariffs and quotas and interruptions to trade at the borders. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We want to try to reach a free trade agreement as soon as possible but we have been clear that we will not change our negotiating position”. “This is the crucial week we need to get a breakthrough. I really think we’re in the kind of, last week, or 10 days now,” George Eustice, the environment secretary, told Sky News. In Brussels, the European Commission resisted calls from EU governments to publish no-deal contingency plans for fear of upsetting trade negotiations delicately in the balance Emmanuel Macron, with the support of other EU leaders such as Mark Rutte of the Netherlands. , called for the plans to be launched at a November 19 summit. The request was repeated on Friday last week by EU ambassadors during a meeting with Michel Barnier. The committee said yesterday that it was “fully focused” on trade negotiations and that businesses and citizens had all the information they needed to prepare for a no-trade deal. Germany holds the rotating presidency of the EU, which means it chairs the intergovernmental talks in Brussels. “People are calling for emergency measures more and more vigorously. I would like to wait as long as possible before introducing emergency measures,” said Ms Merkel. He added: “I think we should really focus all our efforts on the last step and the last stage of the negotiations in the hope of reaching a negotiated agreement.” Contingency plans would be unilateral and temporary measures to mitigate the worst impacts of no-deal in EU interests such as aviation and freight. Brexit: what happens next? Sign up for the Telegraph Q&A; to chat with our experts.
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