- The UK appears to be applying public pressure on Brussels to compromise on the issue of fisheries in Brexit talks.
- EUR/GBP has popped back towards highs of the day in the 0.9030s as a result.
EUR/GBP has popped back towards highs of the day in the 0.9030s in recent trade following a negative statement from the UK government following a call between UK PM Boris Johnson and EU Commission President von der Leyen. On the day, the pair now trades flat.
Johnson/von der Leyen call fails to make progress
UK PM Boris Johnson and EU Commission President von der Leyen recently got off the phone. The EU’s post-call statement was short and vague, noting that the EU welcomed substantial progress on many issues, but also noting that big differences remain to be bridged, in particular on fisheries, and bridging them will be very challenging.
The UK’s post-call statement took a much more negative tone, noting that the UK PM had underlined how the negotiations were now in a “serious situation”, that time was short and that a no-deal was inevitable if the EU did not substantially change its position.
The UK statement noted that the gap on the issue of level playing field had narrowed but differences remained. On fisheries, the statement noted how the UK PM had told von der Leyen that EU’s position was “simply not reasonable”, with the PM stressing how the UK could not accept a situation in which it was the only sovereign nation in the world not to be able to control access to its own waters and to be faced with fisheries quotas that would disadvantage its own industry.
Most market commentators interpreted the UK’s statement as a way of upping the anti in the negotiations publicly/putting public pressure on Brussels to compromise. Expect more of this public posturing in the coming days as the clock ticks down ever closer towards the end of the month, when the UK if formally scheduled to exit the EU’s single markets and begin trading with the block on WTO terms.
EUR/GBP reverses back above its 21, 50 and 200DMAs
Recent EUR/GBP upside has seen the pair reverse back above its 21, 50 and 200-day moving averages, which sit at 0.9005, 0.9015 and 0.8988 respectively. Moreover, support just above the 0.8980 level (4 and 9 December lows) has once again proven difficult to crack on Thursday.
EUR/GBP four hour chart
Share
