Post-Brexit : Fourth Round of Talks Afoot

The European Union and the United Kingdom have kicked off a fourth round of talks on a post- Brexit trade deal and other aspects of their future relations. The four-day negotiations by video conference began on Tuesday, June 2, 2020 with officials trying to make headway after the last three rounds yielded little progress. Previous rounds of talks in April and May ended in a stalemate, with London and Brussels blaming each other for the lack of progress. The future of fishing rights off the coast of the British Isles is expected to be one of the key agenda topics during the four days of talks, involving hundreds of negotiators from both sides. Four separate sessions on fishing rights are scheduled, more than any other single topic. A closing plenary session on Friday, June 5, 2020 will reveal the extent of any progress made during the week. On Tuesday, The Guardian newspaper in London described fishing as a drop in the ocean of the UK economy, representing just 0.12 percent of economic output, adding the issue has become one of the most intractable in the Brexit talks. The UK formally left the bloc on January 31 after a slim majority voted for Brexit in a 2016 referendum. Little has changed in practice during a planned 11- month transition period that ends in Dec. 31. The end of June is the deadline for Britain to ask for more time ...