Flags of the United Kingdom and France in the European Parliament.
Photographer: Jasper Juinen / Bloomberg
Photographer: Jasper Juinen / Bloomberg
France will not try to reach an agreement on Brexit until Sunday at any cost, as the parties are negotiating the largest agreement in the history of the European Union and it is known that these agreements will take many years of debate, said Clement Beaune , Minister of European Affairs of France. an interview on France Inter radio on Saturday.
“The normal thing would be not to say it, well it’s Sunday evening, so let’s wrap it up and sacrifice everything,” Beaune said. “It can be difficult and sometimes difficult to understand, but we need to take the time and, in any case, not sacrifice our interests under the pressure of a calendar.”
Trade talks on Brexit could be a decisive weekend, with neither side confident of an agreement after a frantic 24-hour period of how far the UK and the European Union are still. Fishing conditions and competition remain issues and it is not appropriate to negotiate under the pressure of a deadline, Beaune said.
According to officials close to the negotiations, the UK on Thursday rejected an EU offer that would allow the bloc to lose around 22% of the current € 650 million ($ 797 million) of fish caught annually in British waters. After consulting the capitals on Friday, the EU offered 25% and was again rejected. The UK is pushing for the reduction to approach 60%, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
France does not expect chaos in a scenario without agreement, as it has been prepared, Beaune said. French President Emmanuel Macron, who fell with the coronavirus this week, is tired but fine and is following the talks very closely, he said.
France is also concerned about competition conditions and said it will not accept British companies ’access to the EU market unless its rules are met. The UK must also accept that participation in EU programs will cost more and less, as a non-EU member, he said.
(Correct the day of the week in the first paragraph.)