the likelihood of a post-brexit trade
deal is deeply uncertain tonight with
both boris johnson and the president of
the european commission
speaking in gloomy terms about the
chances of success
but ministers in ireland and germany
struck a more optimistic note saying
that a deal was still
feasible the uk and the eu have agreed
that a decision on the future of the
negotiations will be made at the end of
the weekend
deadlines in this process have calm and
gone without a firm outcome but with
less than three weeks to go before the
new arrangements start
time is fast running out so ahead of a
crucial 48 hours
we'll bring you the latest from brussels
and we'll compare the economic
consequences of deal
and no deal but first here's our
political correspondent alex forsyth
it was a covered welcome for the prime
minister today at a firm providing
energy for the future
more immediate trade talks though must
be on his mind
negotiators are still working out which
way they'll go
as boris johnson warned again reaching
agreement with the eu
looks doubtful it's looking you know
very very likely that we'll have to go
for
a solution that i think would be you
know
wonderful for the uk we'd be able to do
exactly what we want from
uh from january the first obviously it
would be uh
different from what we'd set out to
achieve but i've no doubt that this
country
can get ready and as i say come out on
world trade
terms so for those affected what does
that mean
this farm exports bali to the eu if
there's no deal come january
world trade rules kick in meaning
tariffs or taxes on goods
moving between here and the continent
which could
push costs up i think for the industry
as a whole it'll be disastrous
we've got a perfect storm approaching
of the support payments being taken away
brexit possibly no deal and covered 19
all these things have come
all at once and and that is a massive
problem
these were the cues in kent this week
there's already congestion at ports as
global supply chains struggle with
demand
and covered restrictions brexit will
mean more change for business
whatever the outcome of trade talks the
government says it is prepared
testing plans for traffic build up this
weekend but no deal
would mean more disruption both sides
say they want an agreement but that may
well
not happen because the same sticking
points remain
access to fishing waters and shared
regulations and standards
and on that number 10 says the uk has to
be able to make its own
decisions and not be tied to eu rules
in future from brussels today the
message was
that's perfectly possible that there'd
be a price
they would remain free sovereign
if you wish to decide what they want to
do we would simply adapt the conditions
for access to our market
accordingly the decision of the united
kingdom
and this would apply vice versa so
neither side shifting yet
but the door isn't entirely closed
we believe finding a solution in the
talks is difficult but
possible that's why we as the eu will
continue negotiations as long as the
windows open even if it's
only a crack negotiations are still
ongoing
and i think the implications are very
serious for all concerned in the event
of an ordeal
and i think all politicians in the
united kingdom and
across europe need to reflect on that so
in brussels the mood may be gloomy
but until sunday which is decision day
they are still
talking alex forsyth bbc news
let's speak now to our europe editor
katya adler who's in brussels for us
and katya why is it that some are still
hopeful of a trade deal when boris
johnson the eu
commission president have been so gloomy
well quite simply rita as long as the
two sides are still talking there is a
chance
however slim that solutions are being
found
we don't actually know what is going on
behind closed doors of course it's only
the negotiators
in the room who are aware of what's
going on and a health warning
in the meantime we can expect briefing
and counter briefing
from both sides you could ask though if
the eu really wants this deal
why is it that angela merkel of germany
or emmanuel macron
of france aren't meeting the prime
minister or talking to him on the phone
like we heard today that he's been
suggesting is it a snub
is it bad faith well the eu says no far
from that it is simply because
the focus of these negotiations is on
the eu's
single market it's a market that binds
all eu countries
it's something that all eu countries
make their money from
so they don't think that any one single
eu leader however
powerful they are has the right to make
that deal-breaking handshake
with the prime minister making
compromises that will affect
all of the others that's why eu leaders
chose the european commission
to lead in the negotiations on the eu
side
to make a deal with the uk to respect
its national sovereignty they say as
much as possible
but the priority being the single market
and yes as you say rita
the mood here is as gloomy as in the uk
but because the eu wants a deal i'm
already hearing whispers
from european diplomats who say to me
they hope if it comes to a no deal
it will prove so difficult for the uk
that it will propel
the government back to the negotiating
table something
sometime next year something the
government says can't be taken for
granted
katya thank you katya adler there in
brussels
well i'm joined now by faisal islam our
economics editor so faisal the mood
music
as kathy was saying he's pointing
towards a no deal what does the reality
of that look like
we talked about it for years it's now
getting very serious and actually very
visible
too in terms we've heard from the
government's own economic advisers
saying that the sort of
effectively the mountain of red tape
from leaving the single market and
leaving the customs union
will be a hit to the economy but on top
of that no deal as we've been
hearing will mean taxes on imports that
raise prices
taxes on our exports to the eu which
would hit manufacturing we heard
from nissan today saying there was no
plan b
if such a thing came to pass but as you
saw
in alex's report there uh things going
very serious we had a meeting
today from the prime minister who
surveyed the planning for uh no deal and
there was another meeting of something
called the kent resilience forum
this afternoon uh testing out those uh
that lorry park that would stretch out
uh to dover uh on the
m20 for many miles and as part of that
they're having to work out
which lorries with priority uh priority
load would get to skip the queue uh and
have some
information there apparently it will be
live fish exports which apparently
come from the scotland and transported
via truck
and also daled chicks are the only
things that they have space for
in order to give priority uh for export
the fish and chicks strategy
apparently talking of fish there's also
this talk tonight of the navy
uh being used in terms of policing our
waters
if there's a no deal so serious uh
consequences it's getting uh very real
the bank of england says that our
financial system should
be protected though if there is an
economic hit
but it all getting rather real tonight
okay faisal many thanks faisal islam
there