nobody wants to be the first to leave the table, but Europe wins

Brussels anti-climax. While Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited the Belgian capital on Wednesday evening believing he would be before the moment of truth, before the deal or the breakup, his tendency for drama has clashed with the coldness European institutions. British and European they will continue to negotiate because nobody wants to be the first to leave the negotiating table, but the Europeans explain every day more clearly that are they going They want to dictate the final terms of the deal with which the UK and the EU will coexist from January 1. OR there will be no agreement, as many diplomats in the bloc fear.

Wednesday’s visit started on a different level. Just as Boris Johnson had entered the Berlaymont – the headquarters building of the European Commission, the one which, according to chronicles that a young English correspondent named Boris Johnson sent to London in the 1990s, was going to be demolished – the owner of the house, the president of the commission, German Úrsula Von der Leyen, demanded that keep my distance and that he put on the mask he had taken off for the required photos.

The dinner took place at the Berlaymont car there he lives Von der Leyen since taking office just over a year ago. And there they had dinner last night mashed pumpkin with scallops first, wasabi sole and second vegetables and exotic fruit pavlova and coconut sorbet for dessert. Lots of dinner and little stuff negotiator.

From the dinner it is extracted, according to the sources consulted just after the departure of Boris Johnson, that the negotiators will have one more chance close the deal and that, if they do not succeed, this weekend it will ultimately be decided that the UK will leave the European Union without any deal that regulate your future relationship.

British sources told Brussels that their prime minister “does not want to leave any path to a possible unexplored deal” and that Boris Johnson and Úrsula Von der Leyen agree that Sunday will be the deadline. If there is no deal for that day, negotiations will be over. European sources say it was The little this could be arranged at dinner.

Diplomatic sources said mid-afternoon that the dinner would most likely serve to identify the obstacles preventing the deal and for Boris Johnson and Úrsula Von der Leyen to pledge their teams to continue their negotiations. A bit more. Or, as a diplomat said, something better than anger.

But Wednesday night’s decision is simply a kick forward because Boris Johnson repeats that no British Prime Minister could accept what the Europeans ask for and that they have no intention of moving. “Not a millimeter”, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte was fighting from Rome.

One of the main obstacles has little solution. Brussels is wary of Boris Johnson. He fears the UK government will not comply with what he signs in months. This is why the European negotiators want punitive measures practically automatic if the UK does not keep its tax, social, labor or environmental regulations aligned with EU regulations. If you try to do unfair competition. The British reject this automatism.

Boris violated Belgian anti-pandemic regulations by leaving the Berlaymont. In Brussels, the curfew applies from 10 p.m. The exceptions are minimal and officials or members of government or European institutions do not fit into this list. Of course, if Von der Leyen complied with the rules, he wouldn’t be able to invite anyone else to his rooms for a month.

If you want a visit, until January 9 you can only have it by inviting Boris again. Moreover, by being able to invite only one person to the house, in Brussels for Wednesday’s dinner (Von der Leyen, Boris Johnson and negotiators Michel Barnier and David Frost) also violates anti-covid regulations. Everything is being done so that, for the moment, the blood does not reach the river and negotiations continue.

Brussels, special

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