Trade talks between EU, Britain to resume after no-deal threats

BRUSSELS — Trade talks between the European Union and Britain will resume on Thursday, London’s chief negotiator David Frost announced on Wednesday, days after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson threatened to quit negotiations on a future deal.

“We have agreed that a basis for negotiations with the EU and Michel Barnier has been re-established,” he said on Twitter after a phone call with his counterpart Barnier.

“Intensive talks will happen every day and begin tomorrow afternoon (October 22) in London,” he said.

The announcement comes after Johnson on Friday threatened to quit talks following a statement by EU leaders that urged Britain to “make the necessary moves” to reach an agreement.

The negotiations were left in limbo: While Johnson did not explicitly say talks were over, he said they could only continue if there was a “fundamental change” in the EU’s approach.

The EU delegation had initially planned to travel to London for face-toface negotiations on Monday, but the chief negotiators spoke over the phone instead over the past few days.

Wednesday’s breakthrough came in a phone call after previous conversations at the beginning of the week had borne little fruit.

During the call, the British government spokesperson said, the EU’s Barnier had accepted that “movement would be needed from both sides,” and that an agreement would only be made with respect for British sovereignty.

“On the basis of that conversation we are ready to welcome the EU team to London to resume negotiations later this week,” the British government spokesperson said in a statement.

After leaving the EU at the end of January, Britain entered a transition period that allows it to keep trading with EU countries on the same terms as before. The transition period runs out at the end of the year.

Both sides have insisted that a deal needs to be found in October at the latest for it to be implemented on time.

But while talks are set to resume imminently, an agreement is far from certain.