EU's Barnier warns Brexit trade talks 'going backwards'

European Union Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said talks between the UK and the EU went "backwards” this week, adding that negotiators are “wasting valuable time”.

Barnier warned that a deal was looking "unlikely" as the two sides made “no progress whatsoever on the issues that matter”.

"Too often this week it felt as if we were going backwards more than forward. Given the short time left ... today at this stage an agreement between the UK and the European Union seems unlikely. I still do not understand why we are wasting valuable time," he said.

The main unresolved areas of the deal are the EU’s access to British fishing waters and the so-called level playing field requirements aimed at preventing a distortion of competition.

Failure to get a deal by the end of the year would see both sides trading with tariffs and quotas and a breakdown of cooperation on a score of issues.

“We have had useful discussions this week but there has been little progress,” David Frost, the UK’s Europe adviser, said in a statement released as Barnier was talking.

“We have just concluded the seventh round of negotiations with the EU. As I said last week, agreement is still possible, and it is still our goal, but it is clear that it will not be easy to achieve. Substantive work continues to be necessary across a range of different areas of potential UK-EU future cooperation if we are to deliver it,” Frost said.