France is threatening a veto, it will not support a bad agreement with Britain

France is threatening a veto, it will not support a bad agreement with Britain

Doubts about the conclusion of a trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Britain this year have revived after France threatened a veto at a time when there are probably only a few hours left for intensive negotiations. EU and UK negotiators Michel Barnier and David Frost are trying at the last minute to reach a compromise on the contentious issues, such as fisheries, fair competition rules and the enforcement mechanism. But given that the agreement must be ratified by the end of the year, when Britain leaves the EU's single market and customs union, their negotiating time is running short.

They will not approve any agreement

"If an agreement is reached that is not good, we would oppose it," French European Affairs Minister Clément Beaune told Radio Europe 1, adding that "every country has a veto." According to the European diplomat, who did not want to be appointed, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Denmark share France's concern that Barnier is giving way to London too far in terms of fair competition rules in order to reach an agreement. "We don't want to get stuck in an unbalanced relationship for decades to come," the diplomat said. "We will not want to explain to our companies why they are disadvantaged in their market by doing business with British companies in a less regulated environment," he added. Until now, European states had united and stood behind Barnier, who fought Frost long into the night. "We are committed to reaching an agreement with the EU," British Business Minister Alok Sharma told the BBC. "But of course, time is short and we are in a difficult phase. We want the EU to recognize that the United Kingdom is a sovereign and independent nation. An agreement will be reached on that," he added.