Brexit: EU issues "emergency measures" in prospect of no deal

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in Brussels, December 5, 2020. REUTERS - POOL

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Ursula von der Leyen and Boris Johnson have decided to keep the negotiations for a post-brexit agreement alive until Sunday.

But the European Commission is apparently no longer under any illusions about the possibility of reaching an agreement since it has published a series of "emergency measures" intended to deal with a "No Deal".

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With our correspondent in Brussels, 

Pierre Benazet

The European Commission's “emergency measures” are aimed at sectors that could be most affected by a lack of a post-Brexit agreement, namely fisheries and transport.

For fisheries, the European Commission is putting forward an eleven-page regulation in which it intends to act as an intermediary.

It would formulate to the United Kingdom the requests for access to British waters for each of the European vessels which wanted to continue fishing there.

Likewise, it would issue fishing authorizations to British vessels as well as quotas, that is to say, authorized catch tonnages.

► To read also: Brexit: fishing, cross-Channel traffic ... which still blocks

This legislation is presented as temporary, pending a long-term agreement on the matter;

the reasoning is the same for transport, whether air or road.

For road transport, the Commission is proposing an arrangement for six months in order to allow both heavy goods vehicle and coach traffic to continue.

These "emergency measures" are therefore conceived as waiting measures, a sign that the European Commission considers possible to negotiate with the United Kingdom from 2021, if only on sector-by-sector agreements.

To read also: Brexit: London and Brussels give themselves until Sunday to reach an agreement

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