Talks between Boris Johnson and Ursula von Der Leyen were dubbed 'sterile' by Le Monde
Credit: Andrew Parsons / No10 Downing Street
Media outlets across Europe are turning their attentions to the last-ditch attempts to wrench a post-Brexit trade deal with one German outlet claiming that it is too convenient to place all blame for the stalemate on Boris Johnson.
Germany’s Spiegel magazine carried a long commentary on Thursday morning blaming Angela Merkel for not doing enough to head off no-deal and calling on her take over the talks from Ursula von der Leyen.
"British Prime Minister Johnson has once again driven talks with the EU to the brink of failure — at least that’s what the Germans believe. Why is nobody talking about the role of the Chancellor?" asks Michael Sauga.
The piece accuses the EU of persisting in trying to force the British to rethink and hold a second referendum long after it was clear the gamble had failed.
"Britain and the EU have an obligation to work together. They share the same values and the same understanding of the rule of law and democracy. It would be a first-order policy failure if both sides could not even come to an agreement on a rudimentary trade deal," it says.
"Not letting things get that far is not only a task for Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen, but for all EU heads of government. But especially for the German Chancellor, who stands for the largest economy on the continent and for the cohesion of the EU. It is high time she took over the Brexit talks.”
The Elysée still remains hopeful a deal can be struck before year's end, according to Le Figaro
Credit: Geert Vanden Wijngaert/Bloomberg
In France, conservative French daily Le Figaro points no such finger at Emmanuel Macron but underlines a paradox.
Despite France’s veto threat over the talks, it is, in fact, the European Commission that is now more pessimistic about a deal by year’s end than the Elysée, which “seems more optimistic and considers that the timeframe is still doable”, it writes, citing Brussels sources.
Le Figaro wonders whether the Prime Minister’s decision to enter the fray can change matters.
“At one minute to midnight, Boris Johnson enters the Brexit arena,” writes the Right-wing daily.
His “astonishingly low profile” to date has given “the curious impression of a prime minister busy with anything else but a major historic turning point, which he himself wants, and that will shape the future of his country”.
“As ever with BoJo, it’s hard to whether this is more down to calculation than flippancy,” it writes.
“Boris Johnson has remained faithful to his method: keeping a pistol on the table, playing the confrontation card until the end, pushing things until breaking point before potentially giving ground,” it writes.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds cabinet meeting before heading to Brussels
Credit: ANDY RAIN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock/ Shutterstock
“Until the end, one can only guess at what BoJo really has in mind,” the paper muses. “Does he really want a deal to avoid the major economic shocks sparked by the sanitary crisis and not be held responsible for the start of the break-up of the Kingdom?
“After all, he could boast success in the same week with the vaccine and the deal.”
Or, it asks, on the contrary, “does he prefer no deal that would allow him to blame the Europeans for the economic fallout” of Brexit due to their “intransigence”?
Either way, in the New Year, “history will start taking stock,” writes Le Figaro, clearly flummoxed.
On the one hand, it says, he been accused of “amateurism” and “playing with the future of his country as if it were an Eton lawn tennis match”. But while he has failed to “break up the EU27”, he has “gained more favorable compromise than in October”.
“Boris Johnson has claimed as his own Churchill’s words: ‘If you’re going through hell, keep going.’
Whatever the outcome of Brexit talks this weekend, Le Figaro says it is “highly unlikely” that Ms von Leyen will take the lead in breaking off talks.
“The Commission will never say that it has suspend discussions,” one Brussels source close to the negotiations tells the paper. “It will always say: ‘We’re available as long as the British continue to negotiate, we will continue.’
“It’s a bit like being faced with a terminally ill patient. Nobody wants to take the responsibility off cutting off life support.”
The Elysée denies any tensions with other EU states, with an aide cited as saying: “The deal requires unanimity among the 27. It’s a possibility because we are extremely vigilant about the contents of the deal.”
The paper says the bloc’s “realignment” on competition in recent days has helped galvanise member states and “not talk too much about fishing”, which only concerns eight of the 27.
Centre-Left French daily Le Monde calls the talks between Mr Johnson and Ms von der Leyen “‘frank’ but sterile”.
The paper points to the fact that the European Commission president chose to serve fish and seafood at her dinner with the Prime Minister. “Perhaps (she) wanted to show Boris Johnson that Europe even without the British can have a sense of humour,” it wondered.
Either way, “it failed at any rate to allow the two leaders to find common ground. Far from it!” it wrote.
With no deal still a possibility, the paper said that tailbacks at the France-UK border were a “worrying foretaste of the probable chaos that a no deal will cause on the island”.
Meanwhile, over in Italy, the press concur that if the impasse is not broken by Sunday, it will be a no deal.
That would amount to a highly damaging "geopolitical fracture" between Britain and the EU, says Corriere della Sera, a leading daily.
"In substance, London continues to refuse to accept to conform to European directives after Brexit," the paper says, quoting Mr Johnson when he told parliament that no British PM could sign up to such a condition.
The EU wants to keep the UK within its regulatory framework but the British want to break free — it amounts to "an ideological disagreement" that will be hard to resolve, the daily says. And time is running out.
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