The EU and the UK are likely to be unable to conclude a post-Brexit relationship agreement. Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator for the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the alliance, told reporters on Friday at a press conference following the 7th round of talks on Friday, August 21.
“Overall, it is unlikely that the EU and the UK will be able to conclude an agreement before the end of the year. I do not understand why we continue to waste time on these negotiations with such an attitude of the British side, ”Barnier said as quoted by the Euronews portal.
The UK officially left the European Union at midnight on January 31st. Until the end of this year, the country will remain in the European Customs Union and the single market.
The country’s authorities have officially notified the European Union that they will not extend the transitional period for leaving the EU, which ends on December 31, 2020, and on January 1, the United Kingdom will regain political and economic independence.
In early August, it became known that the number of Britons who moved to the EU countries after the referendum on Britain’s withdrawal from the alliance increased by 30%.
Later on August 9, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson expressed fears that Northern Ireland and Scotland would want to secede from the country after Brexit. He ordered to provide assistance to the regions.