Some progress has been made in the EU-UK negotiations on a future post-Brexit agreement, but that is far from enough. And later today, EU leaders will meet in Brussels, where relations with Britain are the main issue.
The idea was that today’s summit would be crucial for the EU’s relationship with Britain after Brexit. But the parties have not come as far in the negotiations as hoped and the big question marks will not be straightened out at this meeting.
Admittedly, the negotiations have been moving in recent weeks, but when it comes to the most difficult issues, the parties are far from agreeing. It is about fair competition and rules for state aid, about access to fishing waters and how to resolve any disputes.
The EU side thinks that it is the British who must move in the first place. While Britain sees the EU’s demands as unrealistic and complains that the Union does not want to give them as good an agreement as they have given other countries.
Given the state of the negotiations, EU leaders today are expected to urge everyone to prepare for a future without an agreement. Although they are still hoping for further negotiations and a settlement.
Whether the talks will continue or not depends on Prime Minister Boris Johnson. He has previously said that he is considering ending the talks if there is not enough progress before today’s meeting.
After a video call with EU leaders Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel late last night, Johnson said he wants to await the outcome of the summit before deciding on the next step.
However, most expect that the negotiations will continue next week.
In addition to Brexit, EU leaders will discuss the increasingly serious Corona situation and increased coordination between Member States to address this.
They should too discuss tougher climate targets by 2030. On the table are proposals from the Commission to raise the current target of a 40% reduction in emissions to at least 55%. A proposal that Sweden supports.
In the Riksdag’s EU Committee yesterday, several parties thought that the government should work for higher EU goals than that. They received some support from Prime Minister Stefan Lรถfven, but he still argued for lying proposals.
– The government would have liked to have seen an even higher goal. At the same time, there are countries that oppose the proposal and think that at least 55 percent is going too far. For that reason, it is important to support the Commission’s proposal.
However, there will be no decision on the climate goal at today’s meeting, it will be until December.
Source: ICELAND NEWS