EU TOP BOSS IN NEW TRADE BARNEY

Chief warns of ‘risks’

AN AGREEMENT on a fair trade deal with the EU will take years to complete once the UK leaves, according to the bloc’s chief negotiator.

Michel Barnier said the next set of discussions would be very different from the first phase, warning of “risks”.

The comment flew in the face of prime minister Theresa May who only hours earlier had claimed to MPs that a deal was “within touching distance”.

She told the House of Commons there could be no transition deal after Brexit unless there was an agreement on trade.

In an interview with France’s Les Echoes newspaper, Mr Barnier, above, said: “The two phases are difficult. The second will be very different and will last several years. It will involve risks, including about its political ratification, making it necessary for transparency around these topics.”

In an interview with the German media, Mr Barnier added that the transition phase should run until March 2019, when the EU’s current budget expires.

And that Britain would “certainly” remain subject to EU laws during that time.

Meanwhile, European Council president Donald Tusk warned the EU faces “defeat” unless it is united.

He added: “We must keep our unity regardless of the direction of the talks.”

Both sides have refused to call Brexit outcomes as “victory” or “defeat” before Mr Tusk’s statement.

But German MEP Hans-Olaf Henkel said the EU’s stance was “illogical, dangerous and unfair”.