EU and UK sign up to three rounds of online Brexit talks

BRITAIN and the European Union will hold three online rounds of fully fledged trade negotiations to try to prevent an extension of the Brexit transition period − despite warnings the virtual experiment is doomed to fail.

Michel Barnier, the EU’S Brexit negotiator, and David Frost, the UK’S leading Brexit official, held a video conference call lasting an hour yesterday to finalise arrangements for the unprecedented online negotiations involving a total of about 200 officials.

Mr Barnier repeated his offer of a delay beyond the end of 2020 but Mr Frost told him Britain had “no intention” of making such a request.

The talks, each lasting a week, will take place in the weeks beginning April 20, May 11 and June 1, with a further high-level meeting expected in June to review progress.

It is understood Mr Barnier intends to hold a press conference at the end of each round.

Under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, Britain has until the end of June to seek an extension. Only one of the three formal rounds of trade negotiations have been completed because of the Covid-19 outbreak, which forced both chief negotiators into quarantine.

The UK and EU said in a joint statement: “The two sides agreed on the need to organise further negotiating rounds in order to make real, tangible progress in the negotiations by June.”

One EU source said: “This will be no easy task. There could be 100 officials on each side and each of them could be dialling in from different locations … it will be a challenge”.

David Henig, director of the UK Trade Policy Project, said: “A large percentage of communication is non-verbal and that just won’t emerge in remote conversations between individuals who barely know each other.

“While remote conversations are better than nothing they really aren’t a replacement.”

The online negotiations include a wide range of issues, from trade and transport to fishing and law enforcement.