15 October 2020

FT: European businesses urge UK trade deal to avoid ‘brutal split’

Three leading European business organisations urged EU leaders to strive for a trade deal with the UK rather than permitting a “brutal split” between the economies as talks remain stalled on a number of fronts, including the politically divisive topic of fishing rights.

In a joint statement issued on the eve of a crucial EU summit on Brexit, German, Italian and French business associations on Wednesday warned that a no-deal outcome was a real threat that would trigger “cascading consequences” including tariffs, delays and blockages. The presidents of Germany’s BDI, Italy’s Confindustria, and France’s Medef called on the bloc’s leaders to “explore all possible options to reach a solution which ensures smooth trade conditions, while maintaining the conditions for fair competition between the Union and its British partner”.

The intervention came as EU leaders prepared to meet on Thursday in Brussels for their first detailed stocktaking of Brexit this year. The two sides have precious little time left and a huge amount of work to do if they are to strike deals on the future relationship, tariffs and quotas before the UK leaves the single market at the end of the year. Earlier a UK spokesperson warned that differences between the two sides remain “starkest” on the neuralgic question of access to British fishing waters for EU vessels. EU leaders are expected to debate how tough a line to take.

France and seven other coastal nations are insisting the EU safeguard fishing rights similar to those the bloc enjoys now, something the UK has rejected as an affront to the entire rationale of Brexit. But a senior German government official on Wednesday insisted that the EU did have room for manoeuvre, saying that “nothing is insoluble” in the negotiations with Britain.

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