Brexit trade talks in angry deadlock as EU fumes 'we can't go on like this'

The UK’s Brexit trade talks with Brussels look doomed to drag on through the summer after a fourth round ended in bitter deadlock.

EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier accused Boris Johnson of “backtracking” on his own pledges and fumed: “I don’t think we can go on like this forever.”

UK chief negotiator David Frost said “positive” negotiations would continue but admitted: “Progress remains limited”.

The UK previously threatened to walk away from talks in June if there wasn’t enough progress by the end of the month.

But both sides today said talks would continue.

A senior UK negotiator said: “I don’t think there is a specific date, and I don’t think there ever has been.

“Originally June looked liked it would be the inflection point but things have obviously got in the way. What we can’t have is a situation where this drags on into the Autumn.”

Ending talks would crash the UK out of the transition period – which continues all EU laws – on December 31 with no replacement trade deal.

That would slap tariffs on many exports and causing a barrage of paperwork for relations with the continent.

Both sides today made clear talks would continue.

But EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier blasted the UK’s approach in a tetchy press conference.

He rattled off area after area where he claimed the UK was rowing back on its own promises in the Political Declaration – a key document agreed between both sides last year.

Mr Barnier said talks could technically continue as late as October 31 and he hoped for “some common ground” by autumn.

But he also warned: “We are moving towards the moment of truth”.

This week’s virtual talks between the UK and EU were the final round before a crucial “stock-take” of progress later this month.

There will then be a “high-level meeting” which could involve an intervention by Boris Johnson in a bid to work out how well things have progressed.

Mr Barnier said there would be further talks scheduled for late June or early July – potentially in person.

And a legal text was needed by October 31, he said. “We still have roughly five months,” he added – accepting deals are “always agreed at the last minute – if there is agreement”.

Mr Barnier said there were “serious areas of blockage” including fishing, police and security co-operation and a so-called “level playing field” on trade rules.

He said: “My responsibility is to speak the truth.

“And to tell the truth this week there have been no significant areas of progress”.

He claimed the UK’s insistence on its own fishing rules, which would bar EU fishermen from fishing freely in UK waters in favour of an annual quota system, was “not even technically possible”.

And he claimed the UK had not shown “true will” to explore some areas.

“All we’re asking for is the Political Declaration to be respected and compiled with,” Mr Barnier said.

The EU chief said “our door is still open” to extend the transition period beyond December 31 – but that the UK had refused to do so.

“If there is no change the UK will leave the single market and the customs union on December 31 – that’s less than seven months away from now,” he said.

“We have to use this time as efficiently as possible”.

This week’s videoconference talks were the fourth formal round of talks between the UK and EU.

UK chief negotiator David Frost said: “Progress remains limited but our talks have been positive in tone. Negotiations will continue and we remain committed to a successful outcome.”

But he added: “We are now at an important moment for these talks.

“We are close to reaching the limits of what we can achieve through the format of remote formal Rounds.

“If we are to make progress, it is clear that we must intensify and accelerate our work. We are discussing with the Commission how this can best be done.”

Mr Frost said fisheries and the “level playing field” were among the “difficult issues”.

There are still major splits over the UK’s demand for a separate fishing framework, which would mean holding annual negotiations over access to each side’s waters.

The EU want to tie a fisheries deal to the wider free trade agreement, and let EU fishermen continue fishing freely in UK waters, UK officials claim.

Mr Barnier said both sides had wanted to agree a position on fishing by July.

But he said “it seems clear that we will not reach the target considering how the negotiations in this area are going for the moment”.

The EU chief insisted: “There won’t be an agreement on trade if there isn’t one on fisheries.”

Mr Barnier also said the UK must respect the EU’s sovereignty which is “non-negotiable”.

On state aid, he added: “We can achieve these robust commitments that the Prime Minister referred to, to avoid any unfair competition in the field of state aid, which is of key importance when it comes to free and fair trade.”

Another major row is over the ‘level playing field’.

This means aligning UK laws and standards to ones in the EU.

The EU says this is to ensure ‘fair play’, and prevent either side undercutting the other in trade with other countries.

But the UK wants to strike its own rules, while having a trade deal as an outside country like the one struck between the EU and Canada.

UK sources accused the EU of trying to go beyond what was appropriate for a free trade deal – saying the UK had offered up a detailed legal text and discussed it at length.

A senior British negotiator said that while “public health considerations are paramount” that talks by video link had reached a limit.

He added: “If we are going to move this forward we need face to face contact, and the ability to access and understand better than we can in this format”.