Yet another Brexit delay, described by Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen themselves in a joint statement as “an exhausting negotiation.”
And yet, this latest “decisive deadline” of Sunday, December 13, where the fate of London’s exit from the EU was supposed to be decided, turned out to be another missed opportunity: “We had a useful call,” said the British Prime Minister and the President of the European Commission in a joint statement, “and we discussed the issues that still divide us in order to reach an agreement. Our negotiating teams have worked day and night in recent days.”
Despite an exhausting year of negotiations, “both of us,” announced Johnson and Von Der Leyen, “believe it is necessary to make a final effort. That is why we have instructed our negotiators to continue the talks and see if an agreement is possible in the coming days.”
Sources from Downing Street mention the middle of next week
In short, at least the No Deal — that is, London’s exit from the EU without an agreement with potentially catastrophic consequences for the British economy — is once again avoided.
But the December 31 deadline is approaching ever closer, and at this stage, another extension of the deadline, perhaps of a technical nature, is not excluded to allow the ratification of any treaty, if there ever will be one.
Indeed, neither of the two blocs is relenting on the three points over which negotiations have stalled: fishing, post-Brexit competition law, and the role of European courts in case of dispute. These are three arguments not only economic but principled, which for Johnson undermine the “sovereignty” of “Global Britain” after leaving the EU.
