The EU's negotiator Michel Barnier said the EU and UK have until “October at the latest” to strike a deal or risk the imposition of quotas and tariffs. He said: “If we do not reach an agreement on our future partnership there will be far more friction.
“For instance, on trading goods, in addition to new customs formalities there will be tariffs and quotas. This is the truth of Brexit… and I will continue to tell the truth. If we want to avoid this additional friction we must come to an agreement in October at the latest so that our new treaty can enter into force on January 1st next year. This means that we only a few weeks left and that we should not waste it.”
UK negotiator Mr Frost said “considerable gaps remain in the most difficult areas” following the latest round of talks in London.
In a statement, he said: “It is unfortunately clear that we will not reach in July the ‘early understanding on the principles underlying any agreement’ that was set as an aim at the high-evel meeting on June 15th.”
He added: “We have also had constructive discussions on trade in goods and services, and in some of the sectoral agreements, notably on transport, social security cooperation, and participation in EU programmes. We have also continued to deepen our understanding of each other’s constraints on law enforcement.
“But considerable gaps remain in the most difficult areas, that is, the so-called level playing field and on fisheries.
“We have always been clear that our principles in these areas are not simple negotiating positions but expressions of the reality that we will be a fully independent country at the end of the transition period.”
