Saving Seafood

Relief or failure? UK seafood sector responds to Brexit deal

January 5, 2021 — The trade deal agreement reached at the eleventh-hour by the European Union and the United Kingdom has brought some relief to U.K. seafood exporters. However, some in the catching sector have been left feeling extremely shortchanged by the new arrangements, particularly where E.U. vessel allowances are concerned.

Following several weeks of negotiations, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that a post-Brexit trade agreement had been reached on Christmas Eve, with the terms expected to allow the U.K. to conduct a smoother departure from the E.U.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

EU chief says UK trade pact closer but success not certain

December 17, 2020 — Britain and the European Union have moved closer to sealing a new trade deal but it was still unclear if they would succeed, the bloc’s chief executive said on Wednesday.

Britain and the EU are in the final stretch of talks to keep an estimated one trillion dollars of annual trade free of tariffs and quotas beyond Dec. 31, when the United Kingdom finally transitions out of the world’s largest trading bloc.

With just over two weeks left, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he hoped the EU would “see sense” and agree a deal that respected Britain’s sovereignty, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the bloc favoured agreement.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament: “I cannot tell you whether there will be a deal or not. But I can tell you that there is a path to an agreement now. The path may be very narrow but it is there.”

Her relatively upbeat comments on the long-running Brexit crisis helped nudge sterling upwards on currency markets. However, von der Leyen also said two issues were still unsolved.

Read the full story at Reuters

Brexit talks hinge on reciprocal access for EU fishing fleet

December 14, 2020 — European Union and United Kingdom negotiators will this week push harder to establish an agreement on post-Brexit trade after both sides agreed “to go the extra mile.”

A deadline to finish talks had been set for Sunday, 13 December, but U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have agreed to an extension after discussing the major unresolved topics in a phone call.

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EU says Brexit deal still ‘metres from the finish line’

November 20, 2020 — The European Union and Britain have made better progress towards a trade deal in the last few days but there is still a lot of work to do for an agreement to be in place by the end-year deadline, the bloc’s chief executive said on Friday.

Diplomats briefed earlier by the EU’s executive, which is negotiating with Britain on behalf of the 27 member states, said Brussels and London remained at odds over fishing rights, fair competition guarantees and ways to solve future disputes.

However, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen sounded a more optimistic note on the last-ditch talks at a news conference, pointing to progress on the question of ensuring a level playing field for state aid.

“After difficult weeks with very, very slow progress, now we’ve seen in the last days better progress, more movement on important files. This is good,” she said.

Read the full story at Reuters

EU says still far apart with Britain on fisheries, state aid in trade talks

November 9, 2020 — There has been some progress in talks on a future trade relationship between Britain and the European Union, but both sides are still far apart on fisheries and state aid for companies, the head of the European Commission said on Saturday.

Ursula von der Leyen said on Twitter she agreed in a phone call with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that negotiating teams on both sides would continue to work hard on a deal next week as time is running out to reach and ratify an agreement before Britain’s transition period ends at the end of this year.

“We took stock of the negotiations with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson today. Some progress has been made, but large differences remain especially on level playing field and fisheries,” von der Leyen said.

Read the full story at Reuters