The election of Joe Biden as US president elect could be the "lifeline" needed by EU and UK leaders to offset the feared damage expected by failure to reach a Brexit deal, a leading Irish businessman believes.
Former head of the International Fund for Ireland, Willie McCarter believes Mr Biden’s election has possibly provided a lifeline for both the UK and EU as a no-deal looks increasingly possible in January.
The former chief of the huge Fruit of the Loom leisure wear company in Donegal warned that failure to secure a deal between the EU and UK will cause serious “personal and economic hurt”.
Mr McCarter said: “On top of the 2.6 million unemployed in the UK forecast at the moment, a no-deal Brexit will add 300,000. At the same time the UK and EU Brexit negotiators are racing towards a very uncertain outcome by December 31 and inevitably one which will seriously aggravate those difficulties for ordinary people no matter whether an agreement is reached or not.”
However, the advent of the Biden-Harris presidency could help ease the difficulties if EU and UK leaders were willing to grasp the lifeline it offered, Mr McCarter said.
“What could be done is as follows. The UK and the EU might agree to extend the current transition period for a further twelve months until December 31, 2021. During that time all aspects of the transition period would remain as they are now. This would give companies, governments and people a breathing space in which to prepare for Brexit in a much more orderly manner.”
Mr McCarter said during this time, the UK could ask President Biden to open negotiations on a future trade agreement.
“At the same time, President Biden might well be amenable to negotiate a resetting of the US-EU relations including the examination of the possibilities to expand trade between the US and the EU.
“The combination of parallel UK – US and US – EU negotiations as well as the continuation of UK – EU negotiations in a more relaxed time frame might well lead to better agreements between all parties,” Mr McCarter said.
Such an arrangement would benefit ordinary people whose lives and livelihoods have been and are threatened by the pandemic and the rush to conclude Brexit negotiations.
“In both Northern Ireland and the Republic, a sympathetic Biden-Harris administration involved in these negotiations might lead to an altogether better outcome for everybody on this island,” Mr McCarter said.
“Yes, I do think a deal is possible”
— Darran Marshall (@DarranMarshall) November 30, 2020
Irish Foreign Minister @simoncoveney says a EU/U.K. trade deal needs to be finalised this week, as “we really are running out of time for preparation & ratification”
Two big issues remain unresolved - level playing field & fishing. #Brexit
