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France Warns It May Veto Brexit Trade Deal
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December 3, 2020
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December 3, 2020
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Dec 3, 20200:49Now PlayingFrance warned it could veto a trade deal between the U.K. and the European Union if it doesn’t like the terms, piling pressure on the EU negotiating team not to make further concessions as talks build to a climax.
At a meeting of the bloc’s 27 ambassadors on Wednesday, the French envoy warned chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier of how bad it would look if he brokered a deal only to see it vetoed by EU leaders, according to a diplomatic note of the meeting seen by Bloomberg.
Barnier, in turn, swerved a request from ambassadors to see key parts of the text before it’s finished, with some of those present voicing concerns he might be giving too much away and leaving them with too little time to scrutinize any agreement. Once any deal is done, EU leaders must approve it unanimously if it is to take effect, so Barnier has to keep all member states on board.
After nine months of work, the negotiations have reached a delicate point, with officials on both sides saying that a deal could be done in the next few days. To get there, uncomfortable compromises still have to be made.
“It is a good sign because it shows our negotiating team under David Frost are sticking to their guns,” Richard Drax, a lawmaker from Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party, said in an interview. “All of this work has been done and now the French are stamping their feet; we must not relinquish our sovereignty at this late stage.”
France is leading a group of countries worried that Barnier will surrender too much access to British fishing waters and back down on conditions designed to prevent U.K. businesses getting an unfair competitive advantage.
On Thursday, a senior EU diplomat close to the talks said while a veto was possible, it was very unlikely because Barnier wouldn’t sign a deal in the first place if he thought it wouldn’t be supported by leaders. The EU’s negotiating team are right up against the bloc’s red lines but Barnier knows he can’t cross them, the diplomat said.
At Wednesday’s meeting in Brussels, at which Barnier spoke by video link from the talks in London, the French ambassador cautioned him against making too many concessions simply because time was running out. The French position was backed by Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark, and several ambassadors pressed to see draft text so that they could have enough time to scrutinize it properly.
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