LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th October, 2020) UK's chief Brexit negotiator, David Frost, said on Thursday that he is disappointed by the European Union summit's conclusions on the current post-Brexit talks, and said the bloc is no longer committed to working intensively to reach a trade deal, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had agreed.
"Disappointed by the #EUCO conclusions on UK/EU negotiations. Surprised EU is no longer committed to working 'intensively' to reach a future partnership as agreed with @vonderleyen on 3 October," Frost wrote on Twitter.
The UK official also said he was "also surprised by suggestions that to get an agreement all future moves must come from UK."
"It's an unusual approach to conducting a negotiation," Frost argued.
Frost stressed that Johnson, who set October 15 as the deadline to reach an agreement with the EU, will set out the UK's reactions and approach on Friday.
The UK left the EU on January 31, but as part of the withdrawal agreement, both sides entered an 11-month transition period to negotiate their future commercial relations.
Fishing quotas, the so-called level-playing field � the set of common rules and standards designed to prevent businesses in one country from undercutting their rivals in other countries � and governance have become the sticking points after nine rounds of post-Brexit talks.
Johnson has said that the UK wants a trade deal with the EU but is also prepared "to end the transition period on Australia-style terms."
If no trade deal is secured before the transition period expires on December 31, the World Trade Organization's rules for both parties will come into effect starting 2021, including customs tariffs and full border checks for UK goods entering the EU, the same regulations that apply for current trade between Australia and the European bloc.
