Negotiators struggled on Wednesday to clinch an eleventh-hour Brexit deal on the...
BRUSSELS/DUBLIN - Negotiators struggled on Wednesday to clinch an eleventh-hour Brexit deal on the eve of an EU summit, raising the chances that Prime Minister Boris Johnson will have to seek an extension of the Oct. 31 deadline for Britain’s exit from the bloc.
Although differences over the complex divorce between the world’s fifth-largest economy and its biggest trading bloc have narrowed significantly, EU sources reported on Wednesday that the two sides had reached a “standstill”. The question is how to prevent the frontier becoming a backdoor into the EU’s single market without erecting controls which could undermine the 1998 peace agreement that ended decades of conflict in the province.
Pro-Brexit lawmakers from Johnson’s governing Conservative Party say they will only back deal if it has gained the support of the DUP, which fears Northern Ireland could be left behind in the EU’s orbit when Britain leaves. But parliament has passed a law saying Britain cannot leave without an agreement, and Johnson has not explained how he can get around that.Ireland’s Varadkar said in a speech that if the remaining issues cannot be resolved before this week’s EU summit, there was still time left to act before the Oct. 31 deadline.
“The UK wants us to legally commit to sealing a free trade agreement with them in the future that would be tariff-free and quota-free. But we can’t do that, it would be prejudging the future negotiations and tying our hands,” one diplomat said.Reports of a possible collapse in negotiations hit sterling and stocks in London.
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