The ‘Supper Summit’ Date Fails As The UK And The EU Could Reach A Post-Brexit Trade Agreement

The whole post-Brexit trade issue remains elusive as both the UK and the EU fail to settle. The UK left the EU in January 2020, and it had 11 months to come up with a trade deal with the EU. However, the transition period ends on 31st December, which is just around the corner. Hoping to achieve what the chief negotiators of both parties failed at, the UK’s PM Boris Johnson and European Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen met over in Brussels on Wednesday to talk over their differences and sticking issues and come to a conclusive deal regarding trade post-Brexit.

The British media was calling it Boris Johnson’s ‘date with destiny.’ Some were calling it the ‘Last Supper’ before all the hopes for a better post-Brexit deal crash soon. However, both the leaders met and had a ‘heart to heart’ conversation, even had dinner, but the differences prevailed.

Now, the last hope again lies on the shoulders of the chief negotiators, Michel Barnier and UK’s Lord Frost who will be meeting again to resume the negotiations that they had halted last week in hopes to reach an agreement. According to Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen, by Sunday, a firm decision should be made about the future of both parties and their deal settlement.

Ursula von der Leyen said that the meeting was lively and interesting, and both the leaders understood each other’s stance.

However, despite the way the meeting went, it still was not successful because both the parties could not bridge their gaps. The only thing they agreed upon was that they would call their negotiating teams immediately to resume their negotiations again and reach a conclusion as soon as possible.

The whole argument is about a ‘level playing field.’

The level playing field is a trade term that means a set of shared rules and regulations between countries that ensure that the businesses in one country do not get ahead or above with a competitive advantage over the other country’s businesses.

Now, the UK is aiming to retain its Sovereignty which is against the EU’s fair and open competitive single market rules. EU’s single market policies allow the member countries to move across borders easily and continue trading without any tariffs. However, now that the UK is not a part of the EU, so it’s free trade and easy access is no longer allowed unless both the parties reach a trade deal agreement. The problem is that the EU is trying to tighten its reigns and impose stricter policies with the UK now, but it wants the same rules as before for issues like the worker’s rights, government business subsidies, taxes, and environmental protection.

Brussels also wants the UK to follow the EU’s rules in these areas. But the UK wants its dominion in all these sectors as that was one of the main purposes of Brexit.

The UK also wants complete control over its fishing waters. The EU is saying that if the UK does not allow easy access to the European countries, then the fishermen from the UK also will not have any access to the EU markets to sell their products and services.

Possibility of No Deal

Experts from both sides are afraid of this eventuality that would lead the UK to leave the EU in utter chaos, without any solid bonding over trade. After the transition period ends and the new year begins, if there is no deal, then the rules and regulations of the World Trade Organization will ensue. That would mean a lot of added expenses, more border checks, more tariffs, and a lot of difficulty for everyone on both sides. So, it is the most non-ideal situation, and both parties need to sign a deal and get it ratified by the concerned parties before 31st December 2020.

According to Tim Bale, a politics professor, this will perhaps take a last-minute miracle!

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