Britain’s main Brexit negotiator, David Frost, has left the European Commission building in Brussels on Sunday amid a last-minute attempt to strike a post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union.
The two sides told people to brace for New Year upheaval in the increasingly likely event of a no-deal scenario, even after Frost conducted talks with his EU counterpart Michel Barnier late into Saturday night.
A no-deal split would bring overnight tariffs and other barriers that would hurt both sides, although most economists think the smaller British economy would take a greater hit because the United Kingdom does almost half of its trade with the bloc.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen are expected to hold another crisis call later on Sunday, Downing Street said.
As a deadline approached to decide whether to continue or abandon negotiations, a government spokesman said the pair were “expected to speak” from 1200 GMT.
Whether it’s a negotiating ploy or not, Johnson has publicly said the UK would still thrive mightily if there is no deal and it was “very, very likely” that negotiations on a new relationship that will take effect on January 1 will fail.
Speaking to Britain’s Sky News on Sunday, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said a no-deal Brexit could still be avoided if the EU accepts Britain’s right to be treated like “any other independent self-respecting democracy.”
“What really matters is what the EU is willing at a political level to commit to,” Raab said.
“There is still I think a long way to go,” he added.
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Meanwhile, Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin, whose economy is more entwined with Britain’s than any other EU state, said he “fervently” hoped the talks wouldn’t end Sunday.
“It is absolutely imperative that both sides continue to engage and both sides continue to negotiate to avoid a no-deal,” Martin told the BBC. “A no-deal would be very bad for all of us Ö We are interdependent.
“Even at the 11th hour, the capacity in my view exists for the United Kingdom and the European Union to conclude a deal that is in all our interests.”
“The level playing field area is one that has bedeviled the talks from the outset. In my view, with some degree of creativity, a resolution can be found in that area,” he said.
