Key trade talks between the United Kingdom and the European Union in the wake of Brexit appear to be crumbling after the U.K. on Friday said there has been “very little” progress made.
Britain’s chief negotiator David Frost said the “major obstacle” with negotiations is the EU’s repeated demand to include a set of new proposals, which he called “unbalanced,” aimed at leveling the playing field between the two sides.
“We made very little progress towards agreement on the most significant outstanding issues between us,” Mr. Frost said in a statement.
His EU counterpart, Michael Barnier, meanwhile said the negotiations have been “disappointing.”
“We’re not going to bargain away our values for the sake of the British economy,” Mr. Barnier said during a briefing. “Why should we help British businesses provide their services to Europe when we’d have no guarantee that our businesses would get a fair play treatment in the U.K.?”
Britain finalized its protracted and contentious divorce from the EU on Jan. 31, more than three years after the referendum in which voters chose to split by a 52% to 48% margin.
Britain and the EU have entered a “transition period” through the end of the year to negotiate their relationship, which will have to resolve a host of long-standing agreements and rules.
Mr. Frost insisted that the U.K.’s primary demand is a standard free trade agreement, similar to the existing agreement between the EU and Canada, and it will not be coerced into agreeing to additional conditions, Bloomberg reported.
“As soon as the EU recognizes that we will not conclude an agreement on that basis, we will be able to make progress,” Frost said. “The EU continues to insist on fisheries arrangements and access to U.K. fishing waters in a way that is incompatible with our future status as an independent coastal state.”
• Lauren Toms can be reached at lmeier@washingtontimes.com.
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