Britain and Brussels play the blame game over stalled Brexit talks

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Britain and Brussels play the blame game over stalled Brexit talks as the UK accuses the EU of failing to ‘accept reality’ while the bloc says negotiations are going BACKWARDS

  • Seventh round of Brexit trade talks concluded yesterday with no breakthrough
  • David Frost said Brussels must ‘accept reality’ of what the UK wants from deal
  • Michel Barnier said the talks are going backwards and deal ‘seems unlikely’ 

By Jack Maidment, Deputy Political Editor For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Brexit trade talks slipped further into acrimony today as Britain accused Brussels of failing to ‘accept reality’ while the bloc said negotiations are actually going backwards.

The seventh round of talks between the UK and the European Union have concluded without a major breakthrough.

And the lack of progress has prompted a furious blame game as each side pointed the finger at the other for the continuing deadlock.

The UK’s chief negotiator David Frost said in a statement that Brussels was making it ‘unnecessarily difficult’ and it would be ‘easier to make progress’ if the Eu accepted what Britain wants.

But his EU counterpart Michel Barnier told a press conference ‘too often this week it felt as if we were going backwards more than forwards’ and that a deal still ‘seems unlikely’.

The UK Government has made clear it does not want talks to drag on and is keen for a deal to be done by September. 

European Union chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, right, and the British Prime Minister’s Europe adviser David Frost arrive for Brexit trade talks between the EU and the UK, in Brussels, this week

Britain this week reportedly tabled a draft free-trade agreement – the rough outline of what it wants to have in place after the Brexit transition period finishes at the end of the year. 

However, EU diplomats believe the decision to put forward a formal legal text shows how desperate the UK is as time runs out.

David Frost, the UK’s chief negotiator, is said to have handed over the legal text at a dinner with EU counterpart Michel Barnier at a dinner this week as talks resume. 

But an EU source close to the negotiations said of the move: ‘It is the British under time pressure.’ 

The UK is increasingly frustrated at the EU’s approach to the talks because the bloc is adamant that the most contentious issues should be dealt with at the start. 

But the British side is angry because this stops any progress from being made in myriad other areas.

The two main sticking points remain the thorny issues of post-Brexit fishing rights and so-called ‘level playing field’ requirements, with the EU wanting the UK to stick to the bloc’s rules and regulations to protect against unfair competition.  

The UK has made clear that if it is unable to strike a deal with the bloc in the coming weeks then it is willing to walk away without an agreement and to trade with the EU on World Trade Organisation terms from next year.   

A UK Government spokesman said: ‘We are engaging across all areas and want to have a deal ready by September.’