BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th June, 2020) Chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier warned on Wednesday that Brexit talks needed to progress more rapidly if the United Kingdom wanted to reach a trade deal by the end of this year.
"We are halfway through this journey, which is not a short one. I hope that in the next four months we will make more progress because we must make more progress," he said.
Barnier spoke at a plenary session of the European Economic and Social Committee in Brussels after the fourth round of negotiations with the UK ended in a deadlock.
"British negotiators refuse to engage seriously with us in four spheres that we consider essential for a durable and equal relationship," he told the EU advisory body.
These spheres are fair competition, fisheries, judiciary and police cooperation, and governance, Barnier said, before slamming the UK for trying to cherry-pick best parts of the EU's single market.
"The truth is that in many areas it is demanding a lot more than Canada, Japan or any of our other partners. In many areas it is looking to maintain the benefits of an EU member state without the constrains," he said.
The UK said in February that it wanted to agree a trade deal with the EU by the end of June, while the EU needs the pact to be ready by November to have it ratified before the Brexit transition period ends on December 31.
London reiterated during the latest round of talks, which ended on June 5, that it would not seek an extension of the transition period.
Barnier has suggested to UK lead negotiator David Frost speeding up the talks by holding parallel rounds of official and private negotiations every week from July through September.
