The latest is that the talks have broken up 24 hours early and the British and European Union negotiators have failed to achieve any sort significant breakthrough.
UNN’s Oliver Down understands that the two sides’ chief negotiators David Frost and Michel Barnier have agreed to continue talks in London next week. This week’s talks were the first round of physical negotiations that had taken place since March due to the Coronavirus.
The EU’s chief negotiator Mr Barnier has said: “Our goal was to get negotiations successfully and quickly on a trajectory to reach an agreement. However, after four days of discussions, serious divergences remain.”
Mr Barnier then appeared to take a swipe at his British counterparts when he said: “ We will continue to insist on parallel progress on all areas. The EU expects, in turn, its position to be better understood and respected in order to reach an agreement. We need equivalent engagement by the United Kingdom”.
As part of a strikingly different tone, Boris Johnson’s chief trade negotiator David Frost said: “We have completed our discussion of the full range of issues in the negotiation in just over three days. Our talks were face to face for the first time since March and this has given extra depth and flexibility to our discussions. The negotiations have been comprehensive and useful. But they have also underlined the significant differences that still remain between us on a number of important issues. We remain committed to working hard to find an early understanding on the principles underlying an agreement out of the intensified talks process during July”.
Once again it appears that the talks were held up by differences over future access to Britain’s fishing grounds. On this Mr Barnier said that there would be “no economic partnership” without everything being agreed and there would not be a part by part deal agreed as seems to be the preference of the UK.
Current Affairs Correspondent | My name is Oliver Down I am 22, and a staunch brexiteer. I am a Bristolian lad who studied politics in Leicester. I believe in free speech and accurate journalism and I won’t be afraid to give you “the other side” of the story!
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