The main stumbling blocks in the negotiation of a trade agreement with the United Kingdom have not yet been resolved.
The chief European negotiator Michel Barnier has informed EU ambassadors in a closed meeting, insiders have told Bloomberg news agency.
The access of European fishermen to British waters, equal opportunities for British and European companies and the way to monitor whether both sides stick to the agreements have been the issues on which Brussels and London have been in disagreement for months.
These differences must be bridged in intensive negotiations.
On the British side, ministers have been saying for several weeks that a deal is “feasible if the EU moves a bit”. However, a compromise proposal on access to the fishing grounds made by the European negotiators would have been immediately rejected by the British.
The British left the European Union at the end of January. However, a transition period will apply until the end of the year, during which they will still follow European rules. Without a trade agreement, all kinds of restrictions will use from 1 January, such as reciprocal import duties.