EU leaders demand bloc publishes no-deal planning as Brexit talks enter ‘final push’
Senior diplomats warn EU27 may launch emergency plans if negotiations fail
Michel Barnier has told the European Commission that Brexit negotiators are in the “final push” to secure a trade deal with the UK.
The EU’s chief negotiator (pictured) gave the update as senior diplomats warned that governments may begin enacting “emergency no-deal plans if a trade accord was not struck by Friday”, The Telegraph reports.
Despite the risk that no-deal planning “could poison the ongoing negotiations”, with just six weeks until the transition period ends “the EU had no choice but to start work on its no-deal safety net”, a senior diplomat told the paper.
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David Frost, the UK’s most senior Brexit negotiator, has told Boris Johnson that he may be able to expect a Brexit deal “early next week”, suggesting that the EU27 may be forced into beginning preparations for a no-deal exit.
EU Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, who is also the EU trade commissioner, said that negotiations are continuing with “great intensity”, adding “we are now in the last moments to reach this agreement”.
European leaders are now expected to “demand” that the bloc’s no-deal planning is circulated “amid fears that Brexit negotiations are dragging on without businesses knowing what they need to prepare for in the worst scenario”, The Times says.
The Netherlands, France and Belgium are particularly concerned about the continued uncertainty around fishing rights, and want to avoid being “hit by economic disruption without EU contingency measures to cushion the blow of no-deal”, the paper adds.
Barnier has held off on releasing the no-deal planning as he feared it would give Britain too much insight into the EU27’s plans during the negotiations and post-Brexit.
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Joe Evans is the world news editor at TheWeek.co.uk. He joined the team in 2019 and held roles including deputy news editor and acting news editor before moving into his current position in early 2021. He is a regular panellist on The Week Unwrapped podcast, discussing politics and foreign affairs.
Before joining The Week, he worked as a freelance journalist covering the UK and Ireland for German newspapers and magazines. A series of features on Brexit and the Irish border got him nominated for the Hostwriter Prize in 2019. Prior to settling down in London, he lived and worked in Cambodia, where he ran communications for a non-governmental organisation and worked as a journalist covering Southeast Asia. He has a master’s degree in journalism from City, University of London, and before that studied English Literature at the University of Manchester.
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