Planned negotiating rounds on the UK’s future relationship with the EU have been abandoned as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, with Boris Johnson’s government still to table a comprehensive legal text for both sides to work on. During a European commission briefing on Thursday, envoys for the EU capitals were told that holding negotiations via video-conferencing had so far proved impossible. The two sides are trying to find a way to maintain dialogue in the coming weeks and months to kickstart the talks, but a previous schedule for negotiating rounds, with weeks set aside for consultation and preparation, has been ditched. The fact that the UK was still to table a legal text added an extra layer of difficulty, EU sources said. The European commission published a 441-page draft treaty on 13 March that covers every aspect of the future relationship. The UK left the EU on 31 January and has until the end of the year to negotiate a new economic and security relationship or face trading on WTO terms with large tariffs on goods. Despite Downing Street’s public insistence that a similarly comprehensive text would be tabled earlier this month, EU sources said the UK had tabled… Read full this story
- EU's Michel Barnier says Boris Johnson's timetable to 'get Brexit done' is 'unrealistic' and all deals will NOT be done by the end of 2020 in leaked recording
- Boris Johnson storms home: Exit poll shows Tories WINNING crucial election as voters hand PM a majority to 'get Brexit done' - with Labour's 'red wall' of Leave-leaning strongholds crumbling
- 'Biggest queue I've EVER seen at my polling station': Turnout looks huge as thousands are ALREADY lining up to vote in Britain's most crucial election in a generation - as Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn give final call to arms
UK-EU talks on post-Brexit relations 'in deep freeze' have 300 words, post on www.theguardian.com at March 26, 2020. This is cached page on CuBird. If you want remove this page, please contact us.