boris johnson will travel to brussels
tomorrow for a meeting over dinner with
the eu commission president
in an attempt to unblock talks on a
post-brexit trade deal
negotiations remain stuck with just over
three weeks to go before the transition
period ends
at the end of december the politicians
hope that meeting in person will lead to
a solution
our deputy political editor vicky young
reports
will there be a deal prime minister
trade talks have run into trouble
and boris johnson will soon need to take
some difficult decisions
everyone's waiting to see if there's a
way through i think the situation at the
moment
is very tricky our friends have just got
to understand that
the uk has left the european union in
order
to be able to exercise democratic
control over over the way we do things
and
then there's also the issue of fisheries
where we're a long way
apart still but you know hope springs
eternal
there has been progress in another very
tricky area
to avoid checks along the irish border
northern ireland will continue to follow
some eu
rules but that means inspections on
certain goods entering northern ireland
from the rest of the uk
businesses there have been worried about
extra paperwork and the impact on food
and medicine supplies
hardly you start to unpeel the
complexity that is northern ireland
and not create any instability and so i
think if they've
got some sort of solution today albeit
it's late
we will definitely welcome it and we'll
be so pleased and we really
hope that with the detail that comes out
that they really listen to some of our
concerns
this has been a hugely complicated and
controversial issue
where economic considerations have had
to be seen in the context of a delicate
peace process
positives have been difficult to find in
recent days
when it comes to brexit negotiations but
this is most certainly
a very important positive for the island
of ireland as a whole
because what this does now is it
provides the guarantees
that ireland's place in the single
market and the issues around the border
are now all settled hopefully this is a
signal that the british government
is in deal-making mood some see today's
agreement as
a positive sign for the broader trade
talks
but don't forget those arrangements in
northern ireland will apply
whether there's a deal or not and eu
sources say that their chief negotiator
michelle barnier
has told european ministers that we're
now tilting
towards no deal
and while politicians talk the
uncertainty affects businesses
everywhere
the manager of this sawmill in somerset
says he's ready to adapt
we have to be as positive as we possibly
can about it and move forward
we employ three four people at a couple
of part-timers and and for us
having to let people go is the worst the
worst thing for me so my biggest fear is
is having to let staff members go if
there's any obvious price increases and
we become less efficient
and and if we go into recession tomorrow
boris johnson heads to brussels for a
dinner with the president of the
european commission
a last chance to find a breakthrough and
a trade deal that both sides can sign up
to
vicky young bbc news westminster
our island correspondent emma vardy is
at stormont for us and emma tell us more
about the reaction to that decision on
the irish border
well it has been cautiously welcomed
here in northern ireland as
progress it means lots of companies are
now going to get answers about the
process they'll have to go through
to get goods from northern ireland into
their biggest market gb
and to get important things like
supermarket shipments of food
over the irish sea onto the shelves here
but
really the devil's going to be in the
detail when that is all going to be
revealed
tomorrow now don't forget in january
those special arrangements will
kick in for northern ireland where
northern ireland has to continue
sticking by eu rules
that's because northern ireland is
effectively becoming a new gateway um
into the eu and so people are very
fond of reminding boris johnson because
companies that are having to get ready
for all those new checks
and new paperwork he told them
previously look don't worry when you get
through all of this
you're going to be able to chuck some of
that paperwork um into the bin
now we're going to find out tomorrow if
that is really the case and how much the
added burden of red tape on traders
is going to be reduced and of course the
reason why that is so important
is because any added bureaucracy has an
implication for the cost of goods
that we have on the shelves and of
course the range of goods particularly
that consumers here in northern ireland
can buy
emma thank you emma vardy there