The Environment Secretary George Eustice has warned that British firms exporting fish to the EU will face friction after the post-Brexit transition period ends. The surveillance aircrafts were originally hired for rescue missions and to monitor pollution. However, leaders have hired the planes to monitor the waters. Brexit negotiations between the EU and UK had been scheduled this week but were cancelled following the coronavirus outbreak. There have also been calls for both sides to initiate an extension to the Brexit transition period which ends on December 31, 2020.
So far, Boris Johnson has rejected any extension despite parts of the EU being in lockdown.
The deadline to extend the period ends on June 30.
If an extension is agreed, there is the possibility of having a two-year window for talks to take place.
Trade expert David Henig said: I don’t see how you can realistically, by the end of June, make a decision on how trade talks are going.
You would be doing it with a lot of people under pressure, dealing with something that really is an arbitrary deadline.
“This is the classic force majeure cause an unforeseen circumstance of the extreme degree.”