UK government refuses any delay to Brexit transition period
The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has alarmed the European Union with a promise to complete a Brexit deal by December 31, issuing a further warning the transition period will not be extended beyond that date. The UK’s chief Brexit negotiator David Frost and his Brussels counterpart Michel Barnier will hold their next round of official trade talks next week via video conference.
In a joint statement, spokespeople for Barnier and Frost said: “The two sides took stock of the technical work that has taken place since the first negotiating round on the basis of the legal texts exchanged by both sides.
“While this work has been useful to identify all major areas of divergence and convergence, the two sides agreed on the need to organise further negotiating rounds in order to make real, tangible progress in the negotiations by June.”
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