The European Commission expresses doubts about reaching an agreement with Britain by the end of the Brexit deadline
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, told the members of the European Parliament on Wednesday, that despite “real progress” on many important issues in trade talks with London after Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union (Brexit), “I cannot tell you today whether there will be an agreement in the end”.
After months of stalemate, von der Leyen informed the European Parliament that negotiators from both sides had gone a long way in terms of conditions for determining police and judicial cooperation, as well as social security arrangements.
The German politician added: “Also on goods, services and transport, we now have the outlines of a possible final text”.
And she continued, “There are still three issues that could make the difference between reaching an agreement and not: the extent to which Britain adheres to European social and environmental standards and how to govern disputes and fisheries”.
Brussels and London are now seeking to reach an agreement on future relations between them, with only weeks remaining until the deadline, which is the end of the year, which may see Britain’s exit from the unified European market in an unorganized manner, that is, without an agreement, which would disrupt business and trade.
