Very soon, possibly by the time that this column is read, the European Union and Britain will have decided on the nature of their post Brexit relationship.
As this is being written, two outstanding issues are said to be blocking a free trade agreement: the number of fish and for how long the EU27’s fishermen may take them from UK waters, and fair competition in relation to the state aid provided by the EU to its member states, for example in relation to post COVID recovery.
Although it may be possible to develop mechanisms to address both questions, they remain contentious because they relate to a fundamental ideological divergence in the ways in which the EU27 and Britain’s Conservative government see their futures.
