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Trade negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union will come to a head unless progress is made in the coming weeks, Foreign Minister Simon Coveney warned.
But he said the EU will not back down on its insistence that progress be made on fishing and on a level playing field in parallel to the trade talks.
Coveney spoke after consulting with EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier ahead of the EU-UK talks next Monday, one of the two remaining rounds before the EU makes an assessment of progress in early July.
Talks about EU Brexit with the government of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson were renewed late last month, but they quickly ran into trouble, according to diplomats and officials in Brussels.
“The truth is that progress has not been good,” Coveney told RTÉ’s Today with Sean O’Rourke.
“The necessary progress is not really there.
“Unless there is significant progress in those rounds of negotiations, I think we will reach another crisis point in the Brexit negotiations, which from the Irish point of view is very, very serious.”
The end of June also marks the deadline for the two sides to extend the negotiations beyond the end of the year, something the UK has ruled out.
A tough Brexit without a new trade deal in place is “a different possibility,” Taoiseach Leo Varadkar predicted last week.
Good talk with @MichelBarnier today in preparation for the EU / UK negotiations. The EU will insist on parallel progress in LPF, governance and fisheries to advance a trade agreement. The implementation of the NI protocol is also important to build trust. #Brexit – As always, time is short, much to do …
– Simon Coveney (@simoncoveney) May 4, 2020
If the UK sticks to its refusal to extend, the talks would have to conclude in early November to allow time for ratification, Coveney said.
When talks resume next week, the EU will continue to insist on progress on its fishing priorities and level playing field, including in areas such as taxes and state aid, in parallel to the trade talks, the minister added.
“The UK seems to want to just pick the areas where they want to treat early and focus solely on them,” he said.
“The EU has made it very clear that this is not an approach that they can work with.”
The UK, which is pushing for a basic free trade agreement, says the EU is making unsolicited demands by other trading partners. He says he will not accept measures that tie him to European standards.
The implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol, which ensures an open border on the island of Ireland, “is also important for building trust,” Coveney said on Twitter.
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