This is not the first time that Brexit talks have come down to the wire. But it will be the last.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has flown to Brussels to meet with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for last-minute talks. The meeting comes after the EU’s self-imposed deadline of December 9, which was intended to give the bloc enough time to ratify and implement the agreement ahead of the UK’s projected December 31st departure date.
After four long years, it’s the next couple days that will ultimately determine whether Brexit comes in a ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ variety.
Analysis
We have arrived at the Brexit endgame.
The last-minute flight to Brussels – and the concessions that preceded it – suggest that the Johnson administration might be abandoning its bluff on a hard (no-deal) Brexit. Both sides have stared each other down across the table, and in the end it was Johnson who blinked.
Prime Minister Johnson was swept to power in 2019 on a Brexit-at-all-costs platform, one that promised to re-visit agreements agreed to by his predecessor Theresa May. Chief among them was the UK’s withdrawal agreement, specifically the provisions on the customs status of Northern Ireland. Johnson campaigned on a promise of no customs border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. His government subsequently introduced an Internal Markets Bill that reneged on parts of the withdrawal agreement, drawing widespread condemnation from the EU.
Tuesday’s concessions involved a promise to remove the offending clauses from Internal Markets Bill in exchange for last-minute negotiations.
News of a breakthrough on Northern Ireland clears the way for a final deal, as this was among the most intractable of the remaining issues facing negotiators. EU access to UK fishing waters – another long-standing hurdle in the talks – also saw forward progress in recent days. Issues that still need to be worked out include legal jurisdiction over a potential deal and competition and antitrust regulations.
What might have changed Boris Johnson’s mind?
