According to Sky News TV, the EU offer remains unacceptable to the UK
Britain and the European Union cannot overcome their differences on the way to reaching an agreement on future relations after Brexit. This was reported by the TV channel Sky News on Sunday, citing sources in the British government.
According to them, “The proposal from the EU, which is on the table in London, remains unacceptable to the kingdom”. “Prime Minister Boris Johnson will do his best in the negotiation process, but he has been very clear in saying that any agreement must be fair and take into account the fundamental position of the UK, which in three weeks will be a sovereign state [not dependent on the European Union],” the channel quoted sources in the kingdom’s cabinet as saying.
As Johnson stressed on 9 December following a three-hour working dinner with the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the final fate of negotiations between London and Brussels should be decided by 13 December. By that date, the parties should finally decide whether a compromise is still possible and announce whether the negotiations will continue or finally fail. By then, only two-and-a-half weeks will remain before the end of the post-Brexit transition period, allowing the parties to conduct relations under the old rules. Johnson is expected to have a phone conversation with von der Leyen on Sunday.
The most significant controversies in the talks continue to be the allocation of fishing quotas in the UK’s exclusive economic zone after Brexit, the so-called level playing field (i.e. ensuring a level playing field for British and European companies), and the format of the legal framework for the future relationship, in particular the rules for dispute settlement and the role of the European Court of Justice in this process.