With just a few days left for the end of the transition period before the UK leaves the EU’s single market and customs union there is no sign of post-Brexit trade and a security deal. This necessarily does not mean that the deal is finished as the European parliament is not bound legally to hold a consent vote. However, the commission in Brussels is obliged to propose a provisional application of a deal and its draft, translated into the EU languages.
During that time, EU capitals want to take a harder way to analyze the legality of the deal. This could take up to a week which would then take up to a week to process. This would be provisionally in force since January 1. The European Parliament could give its consent in the form of a vote, later in January.
There has been a lack of effort from both ends to put the effort into reaching for a deal. Every deadline is passing by without resolving deadlocks caused due to ‘unreasonable demands’. The most recent deadline passed due to a deadlock over the issue of the EU wanting to have extended access of six years of the UK waters for their fisherman. The UK is in no way ready to accept such demands and states that the EU should be reasonable before making such demands and expect a certain level of flexibility from its member states. The British government has made it extremely clear that they would not agree to any deal that doesn’t give them control of their waters or laws.
The Boris government has decided to roll the dice one last time, in order to resolve the deadlock and finally reach a deal by 31st December 2020.
