Though the newly struck Brexit deal has yet to be studied, it is obvious that the most important thing for the United Kingdom is a level playing field and fair competition, but not fishing rights, which do not actually mean that much and are mainly "symbolic" for both sides, Thierry Mariani, a member of the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee, told Sputnik
BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th December, 2020) Though the newly struck Brexit deal has yet to be studied, it is obvious that the most important thing for the United Kingdom is a level playing field and fair competition, but not fishing rights, which do not actually mean that much and are mainly "symbolic" for both sides, Thierry Mariani, a member of the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee, told Sputnik.
The EU and the UK announced on Thursday that they had finally reached a trade deal following months of talks. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the deal was fair and a balanced for both sides. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that it might not be a "cakeist treaty," but was "what the country needs at this time." He noted that the deal will create a giant free trade zone starting from January 1 and raise the country's share of fishing quotas from around half to two-thirds in 5.5 years.
According to Mariani, "a few days will be necessary to analyze the 2,000 pages of the agreement, since nothing has really filtered during the negotiations," to see how much the UK compromised during them.
"The most important is not the fishing rights, which are symbolic for both sides but don't mean a lot for money or jobs. They seemed to have found a solution for settling disputes through arbitration, that does not really imply the European Court of Justice. That was not feasible. What is important for Britain is of course the economic level playing field and fair competition rules," the lawmaker from France's National Rally party said.
According to the politician, the UK "had to find an agreement" after the new strain of SARS-CoV-2 found there prompted countries across the world to ban arrivals from the island. In addition, he continued, "Johnson could not disappoint the confederation of British industry that wanted this '25th hour' agreement."
"Both sides can claim they fought hard to the bitter end ... For Boris Johnson, it is good, whatever the details of the fishing agreement, since he does not have a strong opposition on his right. The Brexit party and the remnants of the UKIP do not threaten him and his conservative government anymore. He has delivered Brexit as promised," Mariani added.
Fishing rights had been among the thorniest issues in post-Brexit negotiations. Earlier in the day, before the agreement was unveiled, Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage expressed concerns that it "was always going to be a deal that was in the interests of the French fishermen and the German carmakers." Von der Leyen, in turn, said that the sides had achieved a "very good agreement" on fishery, noting that "it shows from the position of strength you can achieve a lot."
