|
|
Brussels is in no rush to compromise on a post-Brexit deal — even though time is quickly running out to agree one — because it believes "Global Britain" is delayed on the runway.
"The U.K. desperately needs this deal," said an EU official closely involved in the talks ahead of this week's round. "If the clock is ticking, reality will start to sink in in London. The U.K. might not always have behaved rationally in its negotiations with Brussels, but surely the pandemic and the lack of trade alternatives must lead to some reason in London."
In the last couple of weeks, the U.K. has experienced a series of delays and setbacks in its other trade negotiations, which it had hoped would put pressure on Brussels to compromise on some of its red lines.
Britain and Japan were unable to announce a new trade deal at the beginning of August as planned, despite intense, high-level political engagement. That deal with Japan will be the first step for London to get into the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) pact.
The deputy prime minister of New Zealand, another CPTPP member country that the U.K. is engaged in bilateral talks with, indicated British negotiators were rusty and unprepared for negotiations, yet attempting to play in the big leagues.
"The EU doesn't have a great record in understanding motivations in London" — David Henig, U.K. director of the European Centre For International Political Economy