Talks deadline extended but EU criticises Britain’s ‘blame game’

A DEADLINE for Brexit talks with the EU has been extended in a bid to achieve a breakthrough.

The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier yesterday paved the way for negotiations to extend beyond the next formal European Council summit on October 18, which had been viewed as a cut-off for striking a deal.

Following a meeting with Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab in Brussels yesterday, Mr Barnier indicated that discussions ‘are now entering the final stage’.

He said: ‘We have agreed the EU and UK will negotiate continuously from now on. Dominic and I will meet regularly to take stock and move negotiations forward.’

Mr Barnier said an agreement and political declaration on the future UK and EU partnership was needed ‘well before the end of the year’ in order for it to be ratified.

He added: ‘I am not going to say October, a few days here, beginning of November, but not much later than that certainly.’

Yesterday’s three-hour meeting was the third time Mr Raab and Mr Barnier have met in little over a month. In contrast, it took the first six months of this year for Mr Barnier to meet former Brexit secretary David Davis the same number of times.

Mr Raab revealed he would be visiting Brussels again next week.

He said: ‘We need to keep, as we climb the mountain, our eyes on the summit and accentuate the positives, and there are many positive areas where we agree.

‘But, of course, we’ve got to close down those areas of disagreement.

‘On the question about no deal, our actions speak louder than words. We’re out here, I’m out here seeing Michel again, I shall be returning next week, we’re going to be picking up the intensity of negotiations.

‘At the political level, we need to revitalise these talks and get issues out of technical discussion into political resolution.

‘But, of course, the responsible thing for any government to do, and indeed on the EU side to do, is to make sure that we’re prepared for all eventualities.’ Mr Raab is expected to give more details in his speech tomorrow, with around 20 papers being published detailing Britain’s preparations for leaving the EU in the event of no deal.

The rest will be published throughout the month and next month. The documents will cover such subjects as payments to farmers, state aid and nuclear research.

Mr Barnier also warned yesterday that the EU would not be swayed by what he called a ‘blame game’ in Britain over who would be responsible for a no deal Brexit.

He said: ‘I do see this “blame game” starting against the European Union in the case of a no deal. But the EU is not going to be impressed by that kind of blame game.

‘Brexit will have numerous consequences: human, social consequences, economic, financial, technical, legal, and I said that many people had underestimated those.’

He added the EU did not want a no deal outcome as it would be the ‘most costly’.

Yesterday, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he believed a deal would be reached, but added: ‘We will find a way whatever the outcome to survive and prosper.’