1/ Chief negotiators David Frost and Michel Barnier are due to speak on the phone tomorrow to tee up the next week's round trade talks. Despite a recent tetchy exchange of letters, chances of a deal aren't as distant as they seem – with even a fisheries compromise in sight.
2/ Access to Britain's fishing waters has been a particular flashpoint in the process. Downing Street has argued the EU is simply trying to continue the Common Fisheries Policy with Barnier's request to 'uphold' the status quo.
3/ Barnier described this as a 'maximalist' position after the last round of talks, adding he and Frost actually agreed to move onto 'specific parameters' – like with most fudges, you can reach the outcome both sides desire and then establish how it fits between red lines.
4/ Brussels has shifted to a more conciliatory tone, no longer is 'upholding' the same levels of access the ultimate goal for its negotiators. There's a level of acceptance in what Boris Johnson says about wanting the UK to become an independent coastal state.
5/ One of Barnier's top aides, Paulina Dejmek-Hack, told a @HesseninEuropa event: 'They are no longer part of the CFP, which means they are an independent state that can decide for themselves what to have in their borders.'
6/ Dejmek-Hack signalled that while the EU would like to keep the current terms, it won't fly. She said: 'Our mandate is clear... It is starting from today’s situation, we’d like to keep that but, of course, it is very positive that we’re in a constructive exchange with the UK.'
7/ Talks will likely develop into a species-by-species discussion over how to divide up joint fish stocks – essentially opening the door for a compromise by engineering a new name for the agreed method.
8/ The UK can say the EU has backed down from its hardline position, and Brussels can say Boris has rowed back on his demand for using zonal attachment to decide fish stocks.
9/ @gbaczynska has had some interesting chats. An EU official told her: 'We would be looking to shift on demands to keep everything as is now, a somewhat maximalist position, if the UK also moved from its position of coastal attachment. That's where the room for compromise lies.'
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