The EU has no interest in extending the Brexit transition period, even if trade talks with the UK fail in the coming days.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is travelling to Brussels this afternoon for face to face talks with the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
With just weeks to go until the UK officially leaves the bloc, significant differences remain between the two sides.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a media briefing in Downing Street, London, on coronavirus (COVID-19).On The Pat Kenny Show this morning, the Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said an extension of the process is extremely unlikely at this stage.
“I think anything is possible but I think that is very unlikely,” he said.
“I think the EU has really had enough of this. What they are looking for now is certainty even if that means no deal contingency planning.”
He said there is little appetite for extending talks “with a British Government who quite frankly have damaged the trust in these negotiations because of their actions, particularly in recent months around threatening to breach the Withdrawal Agreement and the protocol but also, in many ways, changing their approach to things like a level playing field and fair competition.”
He noted that this time last year, the UK signed a political agreement that included clear commitments to a level playing field and fair competition.
“That is all the EU is now asking for in terms of trying to close this out.,” he said.
"Get this done"
He said the EU wants to “get this done in the next few days” to give people all over Europe certainty moving forward.
“Certainly, from an Irish perspective, a country that is impacted more than other, except perhaps the UK itself, we want that certainty too,” he said. “We will be doing everything we can today to encourage positive progress.
“But I think it is important to say don’t get your hopes up too high here.
“This is something that can be resolved with the right approach from both sides this evening but the inability to resolve it today means failure is a distinct possibility at this stage and we need to be ready for that.”
Damaged relationships
He said “relationships have been damaged” in recent months and voiced hope that they can be rebuilt in the New Year.
“The EU wants to move on from Brexit and leave it behind us,” he said.
“The idea that we would extend and go to great lengths to extend, because that is what we would need to do legally, the extension of further negotiations and talks around Brexit into the new year, I think that is a very unlikely, remote possibility.”
Minister Coveney said yesterday’s confirmation that the UK would honour the Irish protocol in full was a “major breakthrough.”
“I think that is not only something that is about satisfying the concerns of Washington, I think it is also a signal the British Government is in deal-making mode and hopefully that can influence in a positive way the discussions we will have this evening,” he said.
