EU chief Michel Barnier tells Euro states to be ‘cold-blooded’ with Britain

EU chief Michel Barnier tells Euro states to be ‘cold-blooded’ with Britain as Brexit trade deal deadline looms

  •  European Union chief Michel Barnier has told EU states to be ‘cold-blooded’
  • Comes as the chief negotiator is reportedly preparing for a bust-up next month
  • Both sides are pushing to have a deal in place by the end of a post-Brexit transition period 

European Union chief Michel Barnier has told EU states to be ‘cold-blooded’ with Britain as the Brexit trade deal deadline looms. 

It comes as former Brexit Secretary David Davis has warned that the last three weeks of negotiations ‘will matter more than the first three years’. 

Top negotiator Mr Barnier is reportedly prepared for a bust-up next month and is concerned there could be a break-down in trade talks. 

European Union chief Michel Barnier  (pictured) has told Euro states to be ‘cold-blooded’ with Britain as the Brexit trade deal deadline looms

Mr Barnier also believes Downing Street could enter into a vicious ‘blame game’ over who is responsible for the lack of progress in trade deal negotiations, The Sun reported.  

The EU and Britain last Friday traded blame for the lack of progress after the latest round of post-Brexit trade talks, with Brussels warning that a deal looked unlikely.

Mr Barnier lodged his warning at the close of the seventh round of trade talks, which again got stuck on key issues, mainly fishing rights and competition rules.

The UK has refused to accept EU red tape or cave in on fishing rights. 

Mr Barnier dismissed a draft text drawn up by UK negotiator David Frost last week as ‘unrealistic’ and told EU states to remain ‘cold-blooded’. 

Hundreds of negotiators met over several days in the Belgian capital with both sides acknowledging a sliver of progress on technical issues – but not on the main obstacles.

‘Those who were hoping for negotiations to move swiftly forward this week will have been disappointed,’ Mr Barnier told reporters after the talks ended in Brussels.

Former Brexit Secretary David Davis has warned that the UK should prepare for talks to collapse as he noted: ‘The last three weeks will matter more than the first three years.’

Former Brexit Secretary David Davis (pictured) warned that the last three weeks of negotiations 'will matter more than the first three years'

Former Brexit Secretary David Davis (pictured) warned that the last three weeks of negotiations ‘will matter more than the first three years’

Britain left the EU in January, nearly four years after a landmark referendum to end almost 50 years of European integration.

Both sides are pushing to have a deal in place by the end of a post-Brexit transition period that ends on December 31.

The Europeans said this requires an agreement by October, leaving just two more months to find common ground.

If no deal is struck, ties will default to minimum standards set by the World Trade Organization, bringing higher tariffs and making onerous demands on business which threaten chaos on the cross-Channel border.

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