Barnier says trade deal possible with more negotiation

MICHEL BARNIER will today tell EU ambassadors that more Brexit negotiations are needed before Brussels and Britain can agree a free-trade deal.

The EU’S chief negotiator is expected to brief diplomats of the 27 remaining member states that no breakthroughs have been made in the rebooted talks but there has been some progress.

After almost two weeks of daily intensified talks, the UK and EU are still divided over three major issues: fishing, the level playing field guarantees and the deal’s enforcement.

Downing Street said there remained “significant gaps” on the “most difficult areas” in the talks, meaning more negotiations are necessary.

Simon Coveney, Ireland’s foreign minister, said that some progress had been made over the level playing field guarantees, but an agreement was still some way off. “It’s far from being concluded yet,” he said, adding that a deal could be reached but time may run out.

Both sides want a trade deal by mid-November so there is enough time to ratify the agreement before the conclusion of the transition period at the end of the year. Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, could intervene to find a political solution to the impasse. If the deal is not finalised by Jan 1, the UK will leave in a no-deal exit involving tariffs and quotas.

Northern Ireland leaves the EU’S Customs Union with the rest of the UK on Jan 1, but will continue to follow EU customs rules at its ports. This prevents the need for a hard border on the island of Ireland, but means goods coming from Great Britain need up to 30 million customs declarations a year on trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the BBC reported yesterday.

Government adviser Frank Dunsmuir told Northern Irish businesses a new digital Trader Support Service could handle the surge in declarations.

Britain missed an EU deadline to respond to European Commission legal action over the Internal Market Bill on Saturday. The commission has warned the UK the issue must be “resolved”.

The Government has argued the Bill, giving ministers the power to override provisions in the Brexit divorce agreement relating to Northern Ireland, is needed to protect the peace process if there is no post-brexit free-trade agreement. If there is a trade deal, it will render the controversial clauses irrelevant.