Foreign
Face-to-face Brexit trade talks back on as Barnier heads to London
The European Union’s chief negotiator for a post-Brexit trade deal is heading to London on Friday evening to pick up face-to-face talks that were forced online this week by coronavirus quarantines.
“In line with Belgian rules, my team and I are no longer in quarantine. Physical negotiations can continue,’’ Michel Barnier tweeted.
After months of deadlock in negotiations, Brussels and London report that they are homing in on an agreement on their future relations.
But with several major areas of disagreement still blocking progress, a deal is far from certain.
Only weeks remain until an end-of-year deadline that could see Britain crash out of the EU single market unregulated, seriously disrupting business and trade.
Britain officially left the EU at the end of January but remains in the EU customs regime and internal market during a post-Brexit transition period.
Edited By: Fatima Sule/Ali Baba-Inuwa
(NAN)
