Britain must make substantive movement in trade talks with the European Union if it wants a post-Brexit deal, Germany said Tuesday, amid warnings that negotiations were at a critical stage.
German EU affairs minister Michael Roth said the bloc was still working hard for a deal but added it was ready to trade from 2021 without an agreement that would avoid tariffs or quotas.
"We are at a very critical stage in the negotiations and we are extremely under pressure. Time is running out," Mr Roth said as the EU held Brexit talks in Luxembourg.
"That's why we expect substantial progress by our friends in the United Kingdom in key areas: in particular on governance, 'level playing field' and fisheries." But Mr Roth also warned that a no-deal scenario would be the worst case situation for both sides.
The EU-UK negotiation aims to reach a new partnership agreement on everything from trade to transport and nuclear co-operation from January 1 next year, when Britain’s post-Brexit transition period finishes.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told parliament in London there was still room for a deal to be hammered out.
"The scope and the prospects for a deal are there,” he said.
"I'm hopeful that we can close the gap, but ultimately it will require the same goodwill, the same pragmatism, the same flexibility on the EU side, that the United Kingdom and this Prime Minister (Boris Johnson) have shown.”
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
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