Michel Barnier: Brexit deal ‘still possible this week’ despite difficult talks
The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, said today that reaching a fresh Brexit deal “will be difficult” but that it “is still possible this week”.
Barnier told EU ministers in Luxembourg that Brexit negotiations with the UK are “intense” and that “our team are working hard”.
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“Even if an agreement will be difficult – more and more difficult, to be frank – it is still possible this week,” he said, Sky News reported.
“Reaching an agreement is still possible. Obviously any agreement must work for everyone – the whole of the UK and the whole of the EU.
” It is high time to turn good intentions into a legal text.”
Barnier’s comments today contradict Finland Prime Minister Antti Rinne, who currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency.
“”There is no time in a practical or legal way to find an agreement before the EU Council meeting,” she said on Monday.
“We need more time.”
Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay is also set to appear at the Luxembourg gathering today, with both sides scrambling to reach an agreement before the Saturday 19 October deadline MPs have given Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
If negotiators manage to agree a Brexit deal then EU leaders could sign it off on Thursday and Friday at the EU summit.
It will then go to parliament on Saturday’s special sitting where MPs will vote on whether to accept or reject the deal.
The Prime Minister has vowed to pull the UK out of the EU by 31 October, with or without a deal.
But former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt said Johnson will find it “very, very hard” to leave by Halloween.
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“It would be very, very challenging, I don’t want to say it’s going to be easy, but I think it’s not impossible,” he told Sky News.
“If we get a deal, people will heave a sigh of relief.”
Parliament’s Benn Act means that if Johnson does not have a deal in hand by 19 October, he must ask the EU for a Brexit delay until the end of January.
Hunt also addressed speculation that Brexit could be delayed for some days beyond 31 October.
“Frankly, if we need a few extra days beyond 31 October, I don’t think the 52% who voted Leave are going to mind provided we are properly on our way,” he said.