Dilip Kuner
TALKS to hammer out a post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and the EU are set to resume today.
The UK’s chief negotiator Lord Frost will meet the EU’s Michel Barnier in Brussels as the two sides make what has been called a ‘final throw of the dice’ to overcome their differences.
Earlier talks between UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President
President Ursula von der Leyen did not come up with a deal over crucial sticking points.
The two had spoken for an hour on Saturday but could not reach agreement on fishing rights, competition rules and how any deal would be enforced.
In a joint statement they said: “Both sides underlined that no agreement is feasible if these issues are not resolved.” But in a slightly more optimistic tone added that they ‘welcomed the fact that progress has been achieved in many areas’.
The two will hold further talks on Monday evening, hoping that today’s negotiations will have led to positive movement towards a trade agreement.
Speaking to Ireland’s Sunday Independent newspaper, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said: “We are more likely to get a deal than not because I think it’s in everybody’s interest.”
He added that reports the EU had hardened its negotiating stance at France’s behest were inaccurate.
