(Reuters) - Germany has dropped plans to discuss Brexit at a European Union ambassadors' summit next week, The Guardian newspaper reported https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/aug/26/germany-scraps-plans-for-brexit-talks-at-eu-ambassadors-summit?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=twt_gu&utm_medium&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1598463875 on Wednesday.
EU officials now believe the UK government is prepared to risk a no-deal exit when the transition period comes to an end on Dec. 31, and will try to pin the blame on Brussels if talks fail, the report added.
The German government, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU council, had intended to discuss Brexit during the meeting on Sept. 2, but has dropped the issue because there has not been "any tangible progress" in the talks, the report said, citing an EU diplomat.
Michel Barnier, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, on Wednesday repeated his call for a deal with Britain on future ties by the end of October, after negotiations made little progress last week.
Barnier told Reuters on the sidelines of an employers' conference in Paris that he had no plans to meet his British counterpart David Frost this week, before adding: "But perhaps next week, if conditions allow."
Disagreements over state aid rules and fishing quotas have so far thwarted a deal, which the EU says must be in the making in time to be approved at an Oct. 15-16 summit of the bloc's 27 national leaders to enable ratification this year.
Beyond the biggest stumbling blocks, differences also linger in discussions on migration, security, dispute-settling mechanisms, human rights guarantees and other areas.