MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd July, 2020) The European Union and the United Kingdom are unlikely to reach an agreement on their future trade relations at this point, as London refuses to agree on the condition of open and fair competition, the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, said on Thursday following this week's round of EU-UK negotiations.
On Monday, the United Kingdom officially launched talks on the future of trade relations with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland following its exit from the EU. The four countries in question belong to the European Free Trade Association, which provides them with access to the European single market, but keeps them off the bloc's customs union.
"The EU has always insisted that economic partnership with the UK must include robust level playing field rules and an equitable agreement on fisheries. This means, simply, that by its current refusal to agree on the condition of open and fair competition and to a balanced agreement on fisheries, the UK makes a trade agreement at this point unlikely," Barnier said at a press conference in London.
