December 12, local time, the BBC reported that with only one day before the deadline agreed by the two sides, Britain and the European Union resumed trade negotiations in Brussels to make a final effort to break the deadlock and reach an agreement.
According to the report, the British Ministry of Defence said on the same day that four Royal Navy patrol boats were on standby to patrol British waters to inspect EU fishing boats if the two sides could not reach an agreement.
A day ago, British and European leaders warned that it is “improbable” to reach a post-Brexit transition agreement on Sunday (13th). British Prime Minister Johnson pointed out that the EU needs to make “significant changes” to the main differences on fishing rights and fair competition rules, and European Commission President von der Leyen said that the absence of agreement is the most likely outcome of this “difficuous talks” at present.
The report pointed out that the European Union rejected Johnson’s request to bypass the European Commission to directly engage in a tripartite dialogue with French President Macron and German Chancellor Merkel.
