British Cabinet Minister Michael Gove said Britain and the European Union could enter into a series of “unilateral mini-agreements” if no trade agreement is reached by the end of the month.
Gove said Britain and the bloc’s 27 member states could form a new “special relationship” after the end of the transition period, close to the UK-US link, which could include agreements he described as “Secondary agreements”, Telegraph reported. Any trade deal is “realistically unlikely” to be approved until after Christmas, which means lawmakers can only vote on a potential deal a few hours before the end of the transition period, he said.
Speaking in Parliament last week, Gove said that, like any group of neighbors, there would be talks between Britain and EU member states “choosing to make unilateral decisions that will make life easier for one side or the other and can that those unilateral decisions are reciprocal “, the newspaper reported.
People familiar with both sides of the talks told Bloomberg that trade talks are unlikely to end on Sunday, but they should do so before Christmas, as fisheries disagreements remain the key obstacle. European countries with large fishing industries resist any other concessions proposed by the European Commission. However, officials on both sides said the gap could still be closed.
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