Ireland Optimistic On Brexit Trade Deal, Fishing Still A Big Obstacle

By Donna Ahern
Ireland Optimistic On Brexit Trade Deal, Fishing Still A Big Obstacle

Ireland's foreign minister said he believed a trade deal can be done between Britain and the European Union, citing growing optimism, but warned that fishing rights remained a big obstacle that London should not underestimate.

Britain formally left the EU in January and is seeking to negotiate a new free trade accord by the end of 2020, when a transition period expires. Two diplomatic sources told Reuters on Tuesday that the two sides were moving closer to a deal.

"I think there is some more optimism now than there was a few weeks ago," Simon Coveney, who played a major role in the talks that led to the initial divorce agreement, told an Irish parliamentary committee on Wednesday.

A recent phone call between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson "was helpful in terms of reinforcing the message that a deal can be done and I would reinforce that message again here today", he said.

Contentious Issues

While the prospects of a deal looked much brighter after last week's negotiating round, there was no breakthrough on the three most contentious issues - fair competition guarantees, fishing and ways to settle disputes in the future.

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Coveney warned that it was hard to see the parameters of agreement on fisheries "for now" as the current British position "creates a very difficult negotiation and a landing zone that is quite hard to envisage.

"This is a big obstacle and I don't think the British government should underestimate the strength of feeling on fishing of many of the Atlantic member states," he said.

"I think the negotiators have a really difficult job here."

News by Reuters edited by Donna Ahern, Checkout. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.

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