EU and UK negotiators Michel Barnier and David Frost will today (29th June) resume negotiations over a UK-EU trade deal after a fortnight’s break, with the discussions including a series of face-to-face meetings on the areas of greatest concession - fisheries, the level-playing field and criminal justice cooperation.
The deadline to extend the Brexit transition period expires on Wednesday, but it is hoped that further time will be agreed and granted if needed given the dire economic repercussions of a hard Brexit for both the EU and the UK.
With just six months to go until the end of the transition period, the lack of any meaningful progress towards a deal has left the Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) extremely concerned, not least given the impact of the coronavirus and possible further impacts of further spikes and lockdowns on the economy.
In light of such concerns the FUW’s Presidential Policy Team agreed that the FUW’s Council should consider the following resolution:
The Farmers’ Union of Wales believes that: (a) Given around two thirds of identifiable Welsh exports go to European Union (EU) Member States and that (b) Welsh agriculture is particularly dependent on such exports for its economic viability, failure to enter a close trading agreement with the EU after the current EU Withdrawal Period would be catastrophic for Wales and its farmers.
As such, the Union believes that if the UK Government and European Union fail to reach an agreement regarding close post-Withdrawal Period trading arrangements in the coming weeks, the UK Government and EU should agree an extension to the Withdrawal Period beyond the current 31st December 2020 end date such that further negotiations can take place.
The resolution was passed unchallenged during a virtual meeting of the FUW Council held on 25th June, thereby reinforcing the FUW’s longstanding view that Brexit should take place over a safe and realistic timescale and lead to a close trading arrangement with the prosperous countries which are on our doorstep.