COVID-19 case puts off post-brexit negotiations

BRUSSELS — As if the Brexit trade talks were not tortuous enough, the coronavirus added a twist at a crucial stage Thursday when top-level talks had to be suspended because an EU negotiator tested positive for COVID-19.

It added uncertainty to the talks as a deadline looms closer and both sides are still divided on three issues.

EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said that together with his U.K. counterpart, David Frost, “we have decided to suspend the negotiations at our level for a short period.” Talks among lower-ranking officials will continue. And after the top negotiators can resume meeting faceto-face, the talks should be back in London.

Negotiators want to clinch a deal ahead of Jan. 1, when the existing trade agreements between the EU and Britain expire.

With face-to-face talks off the table, “the U.K. and EU teams have agreed to continue to negotiate remotely for the time being. The talks will resume in person when it is judged safe to do so,” Downing Street said.

Barnier tested positive in March, and Frost self-isolated that same month after developing coronavirus symptoms. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was hospitalized in April and is back in coronavirus quarantine until Thursday.

The U.K. left the EU on Jan. 31, but a transition period when EU rules apply to trade and other issues runs until the end of December.

The two sides refuse to budge on three issues: fisheries, how to check compliance and standards the U.K. must meet to export into the EU.