Barnier says time frame for Brexit trade talks is challenging

Chief European Union negotiator for Brexit Michel Barnier said on Thursday that it was highly unlikely that a comprehensive agreement on post-Brexit trade with the UK will be achieved in the next 11 months.

Speaking in Stockholm on Thursday, Barnier said: “We are ready to do our best and to do the maximum in the 11 months to secure a basic agreement with the UK, but we will need more time to agree on each and every point of this political declaration.”

Britain was set to leave the bloc on 31 January and enter the transition period until year-end 2020 and under a worst case scenario risked falling out of the EU without a deal in place.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has already said he will not extend the transition period beyond the end of 2020, leading Barnier to say on Thursday that the EU would therefore have to prioritise over the next months what to negotiate given the tight schedule.

"First we will be building a new capacity to work together with Britain both bilaterally and in global institution to address issues such as climate change and peace in the Middle East," he said.

“The second point is that we need to build a very close security relationship.”

Nonetheless, cooperation would be less than at present, he added.

Barnier also said that the EU would insist on a future economic partnership being based on there being a level playing field in terms of social, environmental and tax matters.

“Competing on social and environmental standards can only lead to a race to the bottom that puts workers, consumers and the planet on the losing side,” Barnier said.

“We will strive for a partnership that goes well beyond trade [...] covering everything from services and fisheries to climate action energy transport, space, security and defense, but that is a very huge agenda and we simply cannot expect to agree on every single aspect of this new partnership in under one year."