Brexit deal close but EU seeks more

London/Brussels

European Union chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier wants a few more concessions from Britain before entering the last intense phase of negotiations on a trade deal, an EU diplomat said yesterday, as an Oct. 15 deadline looms. The United Kingdom formally left the EU on Jan. 31, but more than fours years since voting 52 per cent-48pc for Brexit in a 2016 referendum, the two sides are haggling over a trade deal that would kick in when informal membership ends on Dec. 31.

The two chief negotiators, Barnier and Britain’s David Frost, say they are inching towards a deal, though they have underscored that important gaps remain on fishing, level playing field issues and governance. Both sides have no-deal plans. Barnier, who left London on Friday just 12 hours after arriving, wants a few more concessions from Britain before entering the so called “tunnel” - the final stretch of highly secretive, make-or-break negotiations.

“We need to get a little bit more from the UK side before he (Barnier) is ready to enter the tunnel,” said a senior EU diplomat. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman said some progress had been made but the two sides did not yet see eye to eye on all matters. “We’ve had useful discussions this week and progress has been made in some areas. However, there still remain differences on some important issues,” the spokesman said.

Johnson has set a deadline of the Oct. 15 EU summit for a deal, and while his top Brexit advisers say that additional work on a text would have to follow, they have warned the EU that they will not do a deal at any price. As he grapples with a swiftly accelerating second wave of the novel coronavirus outbreak, Johnson will ultimately have to make the final call on whether to accept a narrow trade deal or go for a more tumultuous no-deal that could be blamed on the EU.

He has repeatedly said that his preference is for a deal but that Britain could make a success of a no-deal scenario, which would throw $900 billion in annual bilateral trade into uncertainty and could snarl the border, turning the southeastern county of Kent into a vast truck park.