Brussels: A top European Union official dealing with the United Kingdom said Tuesday that a cliff-edge rupture between the two without even a basic trade deal by the end of the year is becoming more likely by the day.
European Vice President Maros Sefcovic told the European Parliament that time is short” to reach a deal before a Brexit divorce transition period ends by year’s end, effectively giving negotiators less than four weeks to broker a deal which must subsequently go through a lengthy approval process.
And he pointed his finger at British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for making things even more difficult when he decided last month to introduce a bill that breaches the legally binding Withdrawal Agreement it struck with the bloc to make sure it could leave on January 31. Sefcovic said it made Britain less trustworthy and called the plans “a heavy blow to the British signature and reliability. Respecting agreements is first a matter of law, but also of trust and in good faith.”
He said the plans left the EU with no choice but to launch legal action against Britain.
If passed into law, the Internal Market Bill would undermine the EU’s previously agreed oversight of trade to and from Northern Ireland, which is part of the U.K and shares a border with EU member Ireland.
The bloc is furious that Britain plans to breach portions of the withdrawal treaty that were put in place to maintain an open Irish border, which has underpinned peace since Northern Ireland’s 1998 Good Friday accord.
Sefcovic said the EU would never change anything to the Brexit divorce deal. (AP)
