Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister of Foreign Affairs, September 22, 2020 at the National Assembly.
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AFP
The Brexit negotiations are not moving forward.
For French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, leaving the United Kingdom without an agreement is now a “very credible” and “probable” prospect, he said on Tuesday.
"As it is now, the hypothesis of a" no-deal "is the very credible hypothesis, unfortunately probable today", he declared before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly .
"But we know the British skill in tactics," he added, however.
No deadline
“But today is not the time for tactics.
We have finished playing, we are at the end of the day, ”he continued.
“This means that between October 15 and mid-November, everything must be decided,” he said.
"We are prepared for all eventualities," he insisted.
The French foreign minister refuted in passing that the next European summit, Thursday and Friday, constitutes a deadline to reach an agreement, as Boris Johnson suggested.
“The date of October 15, it is Prime Minister Boris Johnson who announces it, it is not the position of the European Council which meets Thursday and Friday.
It's not necessarily there that things are tied up, ”said Jean-Yves Le Drian.
The negotiations come up against competition rules, fisheries and governance conditions, he recalled.
"Fishing should not be the adjustment variable of the agreement", he notably insisted.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is due to meet with Boris Johnson on Wednesday, as the two sides accuse each other of blocking post-Brexit trade negotiations.
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