Forget Brexit – the EU has bigger problems now

For years, Britain’s long goodbye was the biggest issue facing the bloc. Now, Sean O’Grady explains, there are more pressing concerns

Brexit has made the break-up of the EU less likely (Reuters)

Strange to say, at least from a UK perspective, Brexit isn’t even formally on the agenda at the current EU summit of heads of government. The 27 presidents, prime ministers and chancellors meeting virtually would, had a full legal text been completed, be ready to approve a new UK-EU free trade deal. In theory, a high-level session between Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, might have been convened earlier, to flatten any remaining matters of contention.  

That, however, did not occur and another possible outbreak of Covid in the negotiating teams even put the existing talks on hold. So there is nothing for the 27 to discuss. Reportedly, next week is the latest final deadline. Had all gone entirely to plan when Article 50 was triggered, and the UK formally applied to leave back in March 2017, then all would have been settled by March 2019 and, in the British hope, the exact same benefits as membership being enjoyed now.  

It is of course perfectly possible that future deadlines will slip. There is talk of an eve of deadline special summit on 28 December, with the end of the transition period set in British law and European assumptions on 31 December, at 11pm. Obviously that does not allow for a legal text to be translated into 23 official languages and ratified by about 30 regional, national and supra-national parliaments and assemblies. So some kind of grace period might be required. Obviously businesses and citizens will also need some space to make their final adjustments (given that there will be radical change whatever happens). Informally, the Biden administration in the US will also need to be happy.