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A5
WORLD NEWS Monday 14 deceMber 2020

Going 'the extra mile': U.K., E.U. keep up Brexit trade talks

By RAF CASERT and JILL
LAWLESS
Associated Press
BRUSSELS (AP) — Teetering
on the brink of a no-deal
Brexit departure, Britain
and the European Union
stepped back from the
void Sunday and agreed
to continue trade talks, al-
though both downplayed
the chances of success.
British Prime Minister Boris
Johnson and EU Commis-
sion President Ursula von
der Leyen ditched a self-
imposed deadline and
promised to "go the extra
mile" to clinch a post-Brex-
it trade agreement that
would avert New Year's
chaos and costs for cross-
border commerce.
"Where there's life, there's
hope," said Johnson, offer-
ing little else as rationale
to keep on with talks that
have struggled to make
headway for most of the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers a statement at the EU headquarters in Brussels, Sunday, Dec. 13, 2020.
year and need to be fin- Associated Press
ished before Jan. 1, when "at any price, no. What we 11-month post-Brexit transi- including 10% on cars and to Brussels or other Europe-
the transition period for Brit- want is a good deal, a deal tion period. That means so more than 40% on lamb, an capitals if it would help
ain, which left the EU last that respects these princi- far, many people will have hurting the U.K. economy seal a deal. His attempts
January, ends. ples of economic fair play." noticed little impact from as it struggles to rebound to speak directly to key
With hundreds of thousands It remains unclear how Brexit. from the impact of the national leaders including
of jobs and tens of billions in much of the gap between On Jan. 1, it will feel real. coronavirus pandemic. French President Emman-
trade at stake, von der Ley- the two sides is negotiat- New Year's Day will bring Johnson insists the U.K. will uel Macron and German
en said after her phone call ing tactics and how much huge changes, even with a still "prosper mightily" on Chancellor Angela Merkel
with Johnson that "we both reflects fundamental dif- deal. No longer will goods those terms but British busi- have been rebuffed by the
think it is responsible at this ferences that make a deal and people be able to nesses have been sound- EU, which says the Commis-
point in time to go the extra unlikely. move between the U.K. ing the alarm with increas- sion speaks for all EU nations
mile." "Negotiations need to have and its continental neigh- ing urgency. in the Brexit negotiations.
All this, she added, "despite a purpose," said Fabian Zu- bors. "The 11th hour has passed Britain's belligerent tab-
the exhaustion after almost leeg of the EPC think tank. Exporters and importers and every passing mo- loid press urged Johnson
a year of negotiations and "We just spent another face customs declarations, ment of uncertainty makes to stand firm, and floated
despite the fact that dead- 4-5 days not moving for- goods checks and other it harder for businesses to the prospect of Royal Navy
lines have been missed ward, so adding more days obstacles. EU citizens will no prepare effectively for Jan. vessels patrolling U.K. wa-
over and over." doesn't really help." longer be able to live and 1," said Helen Dickinson, ters against intruding Euro-
U.K. and EU negotiators He said the extension of work in Britain without a chief executive of the Brit- pean fishing vessels.
were still talking at EU talks just seems an indica- visa — though that doesn't ish Retail Consortium. But others, in Britain and
headquarters on Sunday, tion "that neither side wants apply to the more than 3 While both sides want a across the EU, urged the
with less than three weeks to be blamed for no deal." million already there -- and deal, they have fundamen- two sides to keep talking.
to go until the U.K. leaves It has been four and a half Britons can no longer auto- tally different views of what "Every opportunity to still
the economic embrace of years since Britons voted matically work or retire in it entails. The EU fears Britain reach an agreement is
the 27-nation bloc. narrowly to leave the EU the EU. will slash social and envi- highly welcome," said
But their leaders failed to and — in the words of the There are still unanswered ronmental standards and Merkel.
present visible progress on Brexiteers' slogan — "take questions about significant pump state money into U.K. Spanish Foreign Minister
any of the outstanding is- back control" of the U.K.'s areas, including security industries, becoming a low- Arancha Gonzalez Laya
sues of fair-competition borders and laws. cooperation between the regulation economic rival said a no-deal Brexit would
rules, mechanisms for re- It took more than three two sides and access to the on the bloc's doorstep, so be a "double whammy" for
solving future disputes and years of wrangling before EU market for Britain's huge is demanding strict "level economies already bat-
fishing rights. Britain left the bloc's po- financial services sector. playing field" guarantees in tered by the pandemic.
Johnson said the "most like- litical structures on Jan. 31. Without a deal, the disrup- exchange for access to its Irish Prime Minister Micheal
ly" outcome was that the Disentangling economies tion would be far greater. market. Martin, whose economy is
two sides wouldn't reach a that have become closely The U.K. government has The U.K. government claims more entwined with Britain's
deal and would trade on entwined as part of the acknowledged a chaotic the EU is trying to bind Brit- than any other EU nation,
World Trade Organization EU's single market for goods exit is likely to bring gridlock ain to the bloc's rules and said "even at the 11th hour,
terms, with the tariffs and and services took even lon- at Britain's ports, temporary regulations indefinitely, the capacity in my view ex-
barriers that would bring. ger. shortages of some goods rather than treating it as an ists for the United Kingdom
European Council President The U.K. has remained part and price increases for sta- independent nation. and the European Union to
Charles Michel warned of the single market and ple foods. Tariffs will be ap- Johnson on Sunday re- conclude a deal that is in
there could not be a deal customs union during an plied to many U.K. goods, peated his willingness to go all our interests."q