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Angela Merkel: UK-Norway fisheries deal shows London remains ‘constructive’
UK and Norway signed a fisheries framework agreement on Wednesday morning.
A U.K.-Norway fisheries agreement reached on Wednesday is a sign London remains on “a constructive path” in its post-Brexit negotiations with neighbors, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday.
“The agreement with Norway is at least an indication that [the British] are on a constructive path and I wouldn’t interpret that as bad news for us but rather as sign that agreements can be found,” Merkel told reporters following a summit of EU leaders in Brussels.
She added that, “as long as we [the EU and U.K.] negotiate, I’m optimistic.”
Still, the "breach" of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement via the U.K.'s Internal Market Bill is a "bitter" setback for the efforts to reach a deal, Merkel cautioned.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told reporters following the summit that he remains “cautiously optimistic” that the EU and U.K. can still agree a trade deal.
Rutte said he believes the “geopolitical necessity” for such a deal is felt in Brussels and London.
“In an unstable world, which has not become more stable due to the COVID crisis,” it's even more important for both sides to cooperate, Rutte said, adding that a no-deal outcome would be “a big lost opportunity” that would come on top of the economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis.
Källa: POLITICO