U.K. Warns It Won’t Back Down as Brexit Talks Enter ‘Move’ Week

(Bloomberg) — The U.K. government signaled the abrupt departure of two of Brexit’s architects from Downing Street won’t prompt it to back down as negotiations with the European Union enter another crucial week.

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A pedestrian walks across the Millennium Bridge in view of skyscrapers in the City of London, U.K., on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020. The Bank of England boosted its bond-buying program by a bigger-than-expected 150 billion pounds ($195 billion) in another round of stimulus to help the economy through a second wave of coronavirus restrictions.

Officials from both sides said on Sunday that the coming days will be pivotal as they each try to overcome the key barriers to reaching a trade deal, with Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney calling it “move week.”

While that’s a familiar sentiment in the back-and-forth of Brexit, the urgency is ramping up as Britain’s departure from the EU’s single market on Dec. 31 fast approaches. Because both sides need time to ratify and implement any accord, they need to strike a deal weeks before then. Without one, millions of consumers will face the return of quotas and tariffs for the first time in a generation.

As he returned to returned to Brussels for another week of talks, the U.K.’s chief negotiator, David Frost, said he “will not be changing” his position in discussions with his EU counterpart.

That’s an important signal after the departure of two of the most senior figures from the Leave campaign from Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s inner circle last week prompted speculation the U.K. could be about to soften its demands.

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Instead, Frost cautioned that attempts to find a deal “may not succeed,” and said businesses should be ready for change on Dec. 31, whether a deal is reached or not. Still, he noted “some progress in a positive direction in recent days.”

Key Disagreements

The issues of state aid and fishing remain the main sticking points in talks that have been dragging on for eight months: the EU wants to maintain its current access to U.K. fishing waters, while Britain is resisting the bloc’s efforts to force it to sign up to the level competitive playing field for business.

While both sides can see what a final agreement would look like, Brussels officials insist that reaching a deal will require the U.K. prime minister to compromise first, a stance their British counterparts reject.

Brexit Talks Hit Make-Your-Mind-Up Time as Deadlines Pass

On Sunday, the U.K. hinted that the negotiations could stretch out beyond this week, even if the year-end deadline hasn’t changed. Environment Secretary George Eustice told Sky News it would be possible to “squeeze out extra time” if the two sides were close to an agreement.

That would follow a pattern that has seen the negotiations already crash through a number of informal deadlines. The EU has suggested it is prepared to continue the deliberations into December if necessary, according to two people familiar with the discussions.

Nevertheless, both the U.K. and the bloc “recognize that time is very short,” Eustice told Sky News’ Ridge on Sunday program.

“This needs to be a week when things move, when we break through some of these difficult issues, and get a resolution, and at least have some sort of headlines of an agreement,” he said. “Otherwise it gets quite difficult, and we do start to run out of time to implement it.”

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The departure of Dominic Cummings, Johnson’s top aide and architect of the successful leave campaign in the Brexit referendum, will have no impact on the Brexit negotiations, Eustice added.

Speaking on the same program, Coveney said negotiators were running out of time. He warned that the two sides have “got to make big progress” this week.

Timetable to departure

Oct. 15-16: EU leaders met in Brussels. Originally, they wanted an agreement to have been nailed down by that pointEnd of Oct.-Mid-Nov.: Original three-week window for intensified talks to strike a dealWeek of Nov. 16: Talks to continueNov. 19: EU leaders hold video conferenceNov. 23-26: European Parliament meets. It will have to ratify any deal agreed by EU leadersDec. 10-11: Another EU summit. If a deal hasn’t been signed, expect preparations for Britain’s messy exit from the single market to figure prominently on the agenda.Dec. 14-17 European Parliament meets for last time this yearDec. 31: End of Brexit transition period. The final, immovable deadline. If the two sides haven’t signed a trade deal, Britain will default to trading with the EU on World Trade Organization terms.

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