Barnier has repeatedly warned that the chances of the 'Canada-plus' style deal, which Johnson has talked about being agreed and ratified are almost zero, and that only a bare-bones 'no tariffs, no quotas' trade deal would be obtainable within the eleven-month window.

archived
the first agreement ("contract") won't resemble anything that UK yella sheets have been training ("grooming") their readers to expect ... in Brexternity

Any tariff greater than 0... in A Perfect Storm

EU leaders gave Warsaw "until June, to confirm that it will also implement this objective at the national level," Macron said at a press conference after the EU summit ended on Friday.

archived practice, practice, practice
independence
infringements
budget

Agreeing and ratifying a post-Brexit relationship bi-lateral trade agreement by the end of 2020 "will be immensely challenging, but we will give it our all, even if we won't be able to achieve everything," Barnier, wrote in a weekend online commentary for the Project Syndicate magazine website. The two sides will have just 11 months [?!] to settle that agreement following Britain's formal departure from the EU on 31 January.

reference
The new EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill: What's changed?
out: Three clauses and one Schedule
in: five clauses
Withdrawal Agreement Bill: Ratifying the Withdrawal Agreement
repeals CRAG,Part 2, requirements


Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

On Sunday, 5 January, Iran announced that it will no longer limit itself to restrictions of the 2015 nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), however the EU has insisted that the deal is not dead. Joseph Borrell, the EU's chief diplomat believes that it is the venue to promote EU's interests with the bloc's Russian and Chinese partners.

The JCPOA "today more important than ever because it is the only place where we can sit together with the Russians and Chinese to talk on a multilateral basis about many risks that we are facing," says Borrell. "It is one of the most important tools of non-proliferation and regional security."

The Spaniard has convened an extraordinary meeting of EU foreign ministers this Friday, 10 January, "to discuss what the European Union can do in the short, medium and long-term to help stabilise the region."
[...]
"We have to try to be more coherent at the international level and especially in these current circumstances," admitted European Council president Charles Michel. "It's not my opinion to consider that the European Union will be out of the game. We have to be in the game and to promote and defend our interests."

"This could be the first step toward the end of this agreement, which would be a great loss -- and so we will weigh things up very, very responsibly," [German Foreign Minister Heiko] Maas told Deutschlandfunk radio.

archived Comish High Rep
Borrell hard on Russia in EU hearing

but said they were not joining the United States campaign to exert maximum pressure on Tehran.

"We do not accept the argument that Iran is entitled to reduce compliance with the JCPoA," the three countries said in a joint statement, saying they had no choice but to trigger the process that could eventually lead to U.N. sanctions.

"Instead of reversing course, Iran has chosen to further reduce compliance."
[...]
"We do this in good faith with the overarching objective of preserving the JCPoA and in the sincere hope of finding a way forward to resolve the impasse through constructive diplomatic dialogue, while preserving the agreement and remaining within its framework," they said.