Barnier: ‘ Much needs to be done’ in negotiations to broker a post- Brexit deal

EU CHIEF negotiator Michel Barnier has said that “much remains to be done” to broker a post- Brexit trade deal as negotiations continued in Brussels.

He said yesterday that they were working hard to get an agreement but that there were still significant gaps after seven days of “intensive negotiations” in London.

Talks with his Downing Street counterpart, Lord Frost, resumed in the Belgian capital on Thursday as they try to get a deal in place for the end of the transition period on December 31. Currently the UK remains a member of the single market and continues to follow EU rules, but businesses will face high tariffs to trade if there is no deal at the end of the transition.

Mr Barnier tweeted: “Working hard for an agreement. Much remains to be done.”

On Monday, No 10 warned that “time is very short” to bridge the “significant” gaps between the two sides.

The main obstacles to overcome remain fishing rights and the “level playing field” rules to ensure fair competition and governance arrangements.

It comes after International Trade Secretary Liz Truss has insisted that the NHS will not be compromised for a post Brexit trade deal.

Ms Truss said Britain would reject a Donald Trump- style “Britain First” approach as she criticised “values- free globalisation” in a keynote speech in London.

In a Chatham House address, Ms Truss said she wants a “valuesdriven free trade agenda” in the wake of Brexit and stressed the UK will learn from “the mistakes of the past” regarding trade.

The current transition arrangements expire at the end of the year and a deal will need to be reached within weeks in order for it to be ratified by then.