LONDON: Last-ditch Brexit trade talks continued in London on Sunday with fishing rights remaining an “outstanding major bone of contention’’, according to British foreign minister Dominic Raab.
European Union chief negotiator Michel Barnier told reporters that “work continues, even on a Sunday’’, as he arrived for the second day of talks.
Barnier had arrived in London on Friday following a spell in self-isolation after a member of his team contracted coronavirus and ahead of the resumption of talks with British counterpart David Frost on Saturday.
Both men warned that a deal could not be reached without major concessions from the other party.
There are only five weeks to go until the end of the current transition period, during which trade relations have remained largely unchanged.
The two key sticking points remain post-Brexit access to British fishing waters for European vessels and the EU’s demand for trade penalties if either side diverges from common standards or state aid regulations rules.
Raab told Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday that this could be the final week of “substantive” talks, with time running out to agree and ratify a deal.
“There’s a deal to be done’’, he said.
“On fishing there’s a point of principle: as we leave the EU we’re going to be an independent... coastal state and we’ve got to be able to control our waters’’, he added.
Barnier told envoys last week that London was asking that European access to UK waters be cut by 80 per cent, while the EU was willing to accept 15 to 18 per cent, according to a Brussels source. — Reuters
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