Britain, European Union to step up pace with continuous Brexit talks

Dominic Raab. Pic/AFP

London and Brussels will start rolling Brexit negotiations in the final phase of talks as fears grow that Britain could leave the European Union next year without a deal, EU negotiator Michel Barnier said yesterday.

"The negotiations are now entering the final stage. We have agreed that the EU and the UK will negotiate continuously from now on," Barnier said after meeting the UK's Brexit minister Dominic Raab in Brussels. "Dominic and I will meet regularly to take stock and move the negotiations forward."

The Brexit talks have become stuck on key issues, including how to avoid a hard border between EU member Ireland and the British province of Northern Ireland, and on the future trading relationship.

The two sides have just a few months before an agreement on Britain's divorce from the European Union -- set for March 29, 2019 -- must be forged in principle by October or November. Raab -- whose predecessor David Davis resigned in July over differences with Prime Minister Theresa May's negotiating strategy -- said that he would be back in Brussels next week for further talks.

"We have agreed that we need to step up the intensity of the negotiations," he added. "If we have that ambition, that pragmatism, that energy on both sides, I'm confident we can reach a deal in October," he said. Until now there have been separate "rounds" of Brexit talks every few weeks, but the pace has increased noticeably since Raab took over from Davis.

Raab played down talk of a "no deal" scenario, saying only that Britain had to be ready for "all eventualities". "Our actions speak louder than words. We're out here, I'm here seeing Michel again, I should be returning next week. We're going to be picking up the intensity of the negotiations - we agree on that - at a political level," he said.

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