Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has said he believes it is still possible for Britain and the European Union to strike a post-Brexit trade deal that they both can live with and that failure would not strengthen the EU's hand in any future talks.
“Anybody who thinks no deal now is in the EU's strategic interests because in six or 12 months time, when we start talking to the UK about putting in place a new agreement, that somehow the EU's hand will be strengthened, I don't think that shows an understanding of a British mindset,” Mr Coveney told a news conference ahead of a meeting with his German counterpart Heiko Maas.
“I think the United Kingdom will try and make whatever the outcome is in the next few days and weeks work, whether it's a deal or no deal and so all of the focus now should be on getting a deal done that both sides can live with and work with.”
No-deal
Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said a no-deal Brexit is very likely.
“It's looking very, very likely we'll have to go for a solution that I think will be wonderful for the UK, we'll be able to do exactly what we want from January 1, it will obviously be different from what we set out to achieve,” Mr Johnson told reporters.
“If there's a big offer, a big change in what they're saying then I must say that I'm yet to see it,” said Mr Johnson, the face of the “leave” campaign in Britain's 2016 Brexit referendum.
President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen was quoted by an EU official as telling leaders of the bloc's 27 member states attending a summit in Brussels on Friday that prospects for a deal had worsened.
“The probability of a no deal is higher than of a deal,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
Mr Johnson and Ms von der Leyen have given negotiators until Sunday evening to break the deadlock over fishing rights and EU demands for Britain to face consequences if in the future it diverges from the bloc's rules.
