Post-Brexit trade deal is still possible: EU chief negotiator

A container ship is seen in the Belfast Harbour and docks area in Northern Ireland. PicAFP

European Union chief negotiator Michel Barnier said on Monday he still has the firm belief that a Brexit trade agreement is possible, and whittled the outstanding disputes to be settled ahead of the New Year to just two.

Barnier said the nine-month talks had come down to finding settlements on fair-competition rules and fishing rights, no longer mentioning the issue of legal mechanisms for resolving future disputes that also long dogged the negotiations.

"Two conditions are not met yet," he said as he entered a meeting to brief the 27 EU nations on progress in the talks. He is expected to continue negotiations with his UK counterpart David Frost later on Monday. "This deal, it is still possible," he added. Barnier is willing to accept British trade with no tariffs or quotas, but only if they respect the rules and regulations that have made the EU's single market so successful.

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