BRUSSELS – European Union chief negotiator Michel Barnier said 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 that the nine-month negotiations 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 U.K. counterpart David Frost later on Monday. “This deal, it is still possible," he added.