Britain, EU to meet Tuesday for last scheduled round of negotiations

BRUSSELS: Britain and the EU will attempt to revive their imperilled trade talks on Tuesday, entering a crucial week of negotiations that could mark the final hope for a deal.

Hundreds of officials will hold video talks all week from London and Brussels, the fourth and last scheduled round of negotiations since Britain formally left the EU on Jan 31.

The previous round ended in acrimony with the EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier asking his UK counterpart David Frost to watch his “tone” in a tetchy exchange of letters.

The EU and Britain have until the end of the year to reach a deal on future ties, without which trade links could be seriously compromised, even as the fallout from the coronavirus saps their economies.

According to the terms of the divorce, the two sides have until the end of the month to decide whether to extend the talks by one or two years, but this idea has been rejected by Britain.

June will also see a special summit to assess the talks, at which British Prime Minister

Boris Johnson would work out the best way forward with EU chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel.

This high-level meeting was foreseen in the political declaration that was signed alongside the Brexit withdrawal agreement in October, but no date has yet been set.

Asked about next week’s talks, Barnier said Britain will have to reveal its true intentions.

“I expect that I will find out whether the United Kingdom wants to leave the single market at the end of this year with an agreement or without one,” he told Germany’s Deutschlandfunk radio.

The talks have snagged on the same issues from the start. — AFP