Negotiators see hope for smooth Brexit
Continuous talks planned for next several months
LONDON — British and European Union negotiators expressed cautious optimism Tuesday that they would reach a deal to prevent a disorderly U.K. exit, saying talks will be intensified and take place “continuously” over the next few months.
After meeting U.K. Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab in Brussels, chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier said differences remained on future economic relations and maintaining an open border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Barnier said the challenge “is to try and define an ambitious partnership between the U.K. and the EU, a partnership that has no precedent.”
Raab said there were “significant” issues to overcome, but if both sides showed ambition and pragmatism, an agreement could be reached by October.
That’s the deadline the two sides have set for a deal on divorce terms and the outlines of future trade, so that it can be approved by individual EU countries before Brexit day on March 29.
But negotiations have been bogged down amid infighting within British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative government about how close an economic relationship to seek with the EU.
Last month the government finally produced a plan, proposing to stick close to EU regulations in return for free trade in goods and no customs checks on the Irish border. But to some EU officials that smacks of cherry-picking benefits of EU membership — something the bloc has explicitly ruled out.
British businesses have warned that leaving without a deal could cause mayhem for trade and travel.
A group that represents U.K. hospitals and ambulance services has said its members may run out of drugs if Britain leaves the European Union without an agreement on future relations.
In a letter published Tuesday,
NHS Providers said a lack of “visible and appropriate communication” from the government is hampering preparations for a so-called no-deal Brexit.
In a letter to National Health Service bosses that was leaked to the Times of London, the group’s chief executive said it would be more efficient to develop contingency plans nationally than “have to reinvent the wheel 229 times.”