Saeed Pourreza
Press TV, London
For months, the British Prime Minister threatened to pull the plug on Brexit trade talks unless progress was made.
But now he’s accepted negotiations to continue after the Mid-October EU leaders’ summit starting Thursday. It comes as Mr. Johnson discusses the state of play with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen Wednesday. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for a deal that serves the interests of both sides but she also issued a warning.
The two biggest stumbling blocks to a deal: disagreements over state subsidy regulations, and EU access to UK fishing waters. The French have threatened to derail any deal that wouldn’t ensure their fishing vessels’ continued access to British waters.
On the financial front, the UK’s pound has see-sawed against the dollar over the past 24 hours as the deadline approached, but reversed course on reports of the UK not abandoning talks immediately. Leaders on both sides of the negotiations say a deal is still possible at the end of the month but have warned that time is running out.
Only 11 weeks to go until the end of the year transition period ends, and the two sides are still bogged down in negotiations over a post-BREXIT free trade deal. It is interesting to see what decision the British government will take if no progress is made between now and November.