The Brexit trade deal could arrive by the weekend. The details of the agreement are not yet known, nor is it known how and above all if the negotiators have resolved the disputes on the three most delicate issues on the table - fishing, the level playing field and governance -, but according to sources close to the dossier , by now it would only be a matter of hours.
Four years after the referendum on the UK leaving the EU and less than a month after the end of the transition period, the turning point could finally come.
According to the BBC, after months and months of negotiations, the process could be concluded in the next few days. The British agency, citing an ambassador and a diplomat as sources, maintains that the Brexit trade deal could arrive as early as tomorrow, Friday 4 December, or at the latest by the weekend.
It is unlikely that the agreement reached will be able to satisfy both parties 100%, underlines the BBC, "But there are two very good reasons – apart from the whispers of the people involved – so a conclusion is now very close”.
The first certainly concerns the timing: the agreement will have to be examined by the Parliaments and if the agreement is not reached within this week, there will be no more time to complete the process by the end of the transition period. The second reason concerns the now famous Internal Market Bill, the bill which, by Downing Street's own admission, violates international treaties. After the rejection of the Lords, the text will return to the House of Commons next week and if the British government decides to go ahead, this law will destroy any hope of reaching an agreement on Brexit. Better, therefore, that the deal is resolved first.
Despite the progress in the negotiations, the mood on this side of the Channel does not seem to be the best. On the contrary. During a videoconference between the EU chief negotiator, Michel Barnier and the 27 ambassadors of the Member States on the progress of the negotiations, France, followed by Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark, threatened to veto the deal, in case this is not considered satisfactory.
The French stance comes following Barnier's decision to reject the request of the EU ambassadors to be able look at key parts of the text. The fear of the ambassadors is that, in order to reach an agreement, Barnier has given in to the requests - considered excessive - of the United Kingdom.
At the center of everyone's interest, there is always fishing. EU states are asking to include access to waters from 6 miles to 12 miles off the British coast and clear rules on fishing quotas on the more than 100 species that are fished in British waters.
