France is not bound by Sunday’s deadline for Brexit at any cost

Photographer: Jasper Juinen / Bloomberg

France will not try to reach a Brexit deal until Sunday at all costs, as the parties are negotiating the largest deal in the history of the European Union and it is known that such deals will take many years of talks, French Foreign Minister Clement Beaune said in a statement. an interview on France Inter radio on Saturday.

“It would be normal not to say, well, it’s Sunday night, so let’s wrap it up and sacrifice everything,” Beaune said. “It can be difficult and sometimes difficult to understand, but it is necessary to take our time and, in any case, not to sacrifice our interests under the pressure of a calendar.”

The Brexit trade talks could be a decisive weekend, without either party trusting an agreement after 24 frantic hours exposed how far the UK and the European Union are. Fishing conditions and competition remain issues and bargaining under the pressure of a deadline is not appropriate, Beaune said.

According to officials close to the negotiations, the UK on Thursday rejected an EU offer that would allow the bloc to lose around 22% of the current 650 million euros ($ 797 million) of fish caught annually in British waters. After consultation with the capitals on Friday, the EU offered 25% and this was again rejected. The UK is pushing the reduction to be closer to 60%, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

France does not expect chaos in a scenario without agreement, as it has prepared, Beaune said. French President Emmanuel Macron, who came with coronavirus this week, is tired but well and is following the talks very closely, he said.

France is also concerned about conditions of competition and has said it will not accept British companies’ access to the EU market unless its rules are complied with. The UK must also accept that participating in EU programs will cost more, and not less, as a non-EU member, he said.

(Correct the day of the week in the first paragraph.)