Limited time left but a Brexit deal still possible – Richmond

Fine Gael TD and spokesman on European Affairs, Neale Richmond, has stated that a Brexit deal is still possible despite the end of the transition period being less than 60 days away.

His remarks come following a call between European Commission President, Ursula Von Der Leyen and British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.

“It is of course welcome that the two negotiating teams will return to talks again on Monday, however, there is limited time left to secure a deal on a future EU-U.K. relationship.

“Any deal must go through both the European Parliament and the House of Commons for final ratification, a process that cannot be done overnight.

“It is absolutely in everybody’s interest to secure a deal, although, the party that would suffer the most in a No Deal scenario is of course the U.K.

“Therefore it is vital that an element of realism is adopted by the British leadership in order to make progress on the outstanding issues of fisheries, a level playing field and governance.

“There has been much speculation about hedging from the British leadership based on waiting for the result of the American elections or indeed the impact of the latest Covid restrictions.

“I have no doubt that such speculation is idle but it is reasonably clear that Joe Biden will become American President and his thoughts on Brexit and crucially the Good Friday Agreement are well known.

“There is limited time left but a Brexit deal is possible.”

ENDS