Michel Barnier says Brexit trade talks have reached ‘crucial moment’ as negotiations set to continue on Monday

EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier in Westminster, London
PA
April Roach @aprilroach2824 December 2020
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Brussels’ chief negotiator has warned that Britain must be prepared to respect the EU’s sovereignty as the trade talks reached a “crucial moment”.

Michel Barnier said the EU remained committed to achieving “a fair, reciprocal and balanced agreement” but said both sides needed to be able to act when their interests were at stake.

The European Parliament has said that talks need to be concluded by Sunday evening if it is to ratify any deal before the transition ends.

But a UK Government sourse said the negotiations are expected to continue on to Monday.

They said the discussions in Brussels had been “difficult” and that “significant differences” remained between the two sides on fisheries and state aid rules.

“Teams have been negotiating throughout the day and expect to continue tomorrow. Talks remain difficult and significant differences remain,” the source said.

“We continue to explore every route to a deal that is in line with the fundamental principles we brought into the negotiations."

In a statement posted on Twitter, Mr Barnier said both sides should be able to act “when our interests are at stake”.

“In this crucial moment for the negotiations, we continue to work hard with @DavidGHFrost and his team,” said Mr Barnier.

“The EU remains committed to a fair, reciprocal & balanced agreement. We respect the sovereignty of the UK. And we expect the same.

“Both EU & UK must have the right to set their own laws & control their own waters. And we should both be able to act when our interests are at stake.”

Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy said that Labour “would be minded” to support a Brexit deal but that the Government needed to “get its act together”.

“We’d be minded to back it but we don’t know what will be in it. We want to see that deal first,” she said on Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme.

“We don’t trust that the Prime Minister will come back with a deal that’s in the national interest, but we’ve always said that we think a deal is absolutely essential and no deal would be a disaster.

“What we hope is that the Government gets its act together in these last 11 days and make sure there is a deal – making sure people aren’t waking up on January 1 in the middle of a global pandemic with all of the chaos a no-deal Brexit would bring.

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Ms Nandy added that Brexit was now about “confronting the realities in front of us.”

“The option of a second referendum is gone, we have left the European Union, we left in January,” she said.

“We have got to go forwards, we have got to stop the disunity and the division that has held the country back over recent years.”

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he believed a deal was still possible but said it would require movement on the EU side.

“We want these talks to reach a positive conclusion. I think everybody wants a deal. Unfortunately, the EU have put in some unreasonable demands,” he told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme.

“I’m sure that a deal can be done but obviously it needs movement on the EU side.”

If there were to be a deal, under EU rules it could be provisionally signed off by EU leaders with ratification delayed until 2021.

However, if there is no deal by December 31, the UK will leave the single market and customs union and begin trading with the EU on World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms – with the imposition of tariffs potentially leading to higher prices in the shops.

Additional reporting by PA Media.

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