The EU complains that the UK is slowing down efforts to prepare an agreement on future relations with the community after the transition period of withdrawal.
On Friday, at a briefing on the results of the next round of negotiations on Brexit, which was held remotely, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said that the UK has refused any new delays in completing the process of withdrawal from the EU.
“The British government has given up any postponement of the final exit from the European market, which is scheduled for December 31, 2020. This is the date of the economic Brexit, the end of the transition period after the political Brexit – said Barnier – We need an agreement to mitigate the severe shock that our economies will experience this year as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. It is unacceptable to exacerbate this shock by severing economic ties without an agreement.
The European Diplomat stressed that London was slowing down negotiations on the creation of a balanced business environment, on the free movement of people, goods and services, on the development of a veterinary and phytosanitary control regime at the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, as well as on fishing problems.