The chasm between the UK and the European Union on key Brexit issues poses a genuine threat to the success of the negotiations, Michel Barnier has said, as EU27 leaders made a joint statement warning of a no-deal scenario.
The EU’s chief negotiator, arriving at a summit in Brussels, told reporters: “On Brexit we have made progress, but huge and serious divergence remains, particularly on Ireland and Northern Ireland.
“After Brexit, we want an EU-UK ambitious partnership on trade as well as security. But we have to base this partnership on our values and principles, respecting also the UK red lines.
“That means for us integrity of the single market, indivisibility of the four freedoms, autonomy and the decision-making of the EU, and the protection and respect of the fundamental rights of EU citizens.”
Shortly after Barnier’s comments, the EU27 leaders signed off on a joint statement warning in grave terms about the need to prepare for a no-deal scenario.
They expressed serious concerns about the lack of progress on avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland, and demanded an intensification of talks.
Spain insisted on the insertion of a warning that the UK also had to come to an agreement on the future of Gibraltar after Brexit if the rock is to be covered by the terms of the transition period, in which the UK will stay in the single market and customs union until December 2020.
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