Brussels
EU and UK negotiators pressed on with talks on Saturday with no sign of them breaking an impasse over post-Brexit fishing rights in time to save a trade deal.
Fishing is now the main obstacle to any pact that could be in place on Jan. 1 to prevent an economic jolt on both sides of the Channel as Britain leaves the single market.
“It remains very blocked,” one EU diplomat told media.
Another said Brussels had made Britain its last offer on fishing access and it was down now to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to decide whether he wants a deal. “If Britain doesn’t accept the latest EU offer of it will be a ‘no deal’ over fish,” he warned. The EU’s pointman in the talks, Michel Barnier, has proposed EU fishermen giving up nearly a quarter of the value of the fish they currently catch in UK waters.—AN
