Taoiseach Micheál Martin appealed for a compromise to reach a breakthrough in talks and avoid damaging tariffs coming into force on trade with Britain from January 1st, as both Brussels and London conceded it was possible that a deal would not be reached.
Negotiators have been given until Sunday to try to find a path forward, with the two sides split over the EU’s insistence that Britain can only trade freely into the EU if its companies continue to follow comparable standards, and London’s desire for autonomy.
“I think the key to unlocking this is to stand back and look at the overall picture here. Ninety-seven per cent of this is agreed. Are we saying that we’re going to lose out on a deal because of the 3 per cent?” Mr Martin said at a summit of EU leaders in Brussels.
“One final effort is required here. There will obviously be a need for compromise at the end of the day,” he added.
It came as the European Commission launched plans for emergency measures to temper the worst disruption expected without a deal on January 1st, including temporary legislation to allow planes to keep flying and trucks to keep travelling between the jurisdictions when current arrangements lapse overnight.
Not acceptable
UK prime minister Boris Johnson said no-deal was now a “strong possibility” and the deal currently on the table from the EU was not acceptable due to requirements to keep regulations in line into the future that would keep Britain “locked in the EU’s orbit”.
Irish Government sources believe that despite the increasing mood of pessimism, an agreement is still possible.
With hopes for a revived transatlantic relationship high on the agenda in Brussels and London, Democratic senator Chris Murphy of the US Senate foreign relations committee said he thought the United States should prioritise a trade deal with the EU over a trade deal with Britain.
“It’s not to say a US-Britain trade agreement isn’t important,” he said at a Washington Ireland Programme event, “but I do think that we want to send a signal about the value that we place on multilateral organisations, especially at a moment when the EU is under threat.”
