New: the European Parliament's announcement that it will not ratify any treaty before the end of December unless the deal is concluded by midnight on Sunday comes amid signals that, despite progress, a deal won't be concluded until early next week.

2/ This is because there are still some formidable hurdles in the way of closure on the level playing field issue, and they haven't even got into fisheries in a big way yet. And both sides say things there are "extremely difficult".
3/ Yesterday there were some signals that a deal could be done by the weekend, but the mood seems to have dipped somewhat.
4/ The EP is saying it wants a "provisional" text from the European Commission "as soon as possible" - not clear if that means even before the midnight deadline
5/ If a deal is not concluded by Sunday night then we are in uncharted waters
6/ Member states will say the treaty should therefore be applied provisionally from January 1 and ratified later. Under the Lisbon Treaty the Council has that prerogative. However, the Commission wants the treaty to be ratified by end Dec if at all possible. EP dead against PA
7/ Provisional application still requires the consent of the UK. That's another question altogether. If the UK decides it does not accept Provisional Application then we're into a short No Deal period
8/ Even if Provisional Application is required, it can't just be done in a heartbeat. There are still several procedures to get through.
9/ So there could still be a No Deal period from January 1. Officials say that the No Deal contingency plans which the European Commission have published for aviation, haulage, trains and fisheries would kick in in that scenario

More from Tony Connelly

More from Brexit

A further thread on the EU/UK musicians/visa for paid work issue (the issue is paid work: travelling to sing or play at eg a charity event for free can be done without a visa).


The position that we now have now (no relevant provisions under the TCA) is complicated. For EU musicians visiting the UK see


In essence the UK permits foreign (including EU) nationals to stay up to 30 days to carry out paid engagements, but they must (a) prove they are a professional musician and (b) be invited by an established UK business.

Either condition could be tricky for a young musician starting out and wanting to play gigs. And 30 days isn’t long enough for a part in a show with a run.

Longer stays require a T5 visa - which generally requires you to be in a shortage occupation (play an instrument not played in the UK?) or to have an established international reputation.

You May Also Like