(Bloomberg) -- David Frost, the U.K.’s chief Brexit negotiator, warned progress must be made in talks starting Tuesday if an agreement is to be reached in time for Britain’s final separation from the bloc at the end of the year.
“We have now been talking for six months and can no longer afford to go over well-trodden ground,” Frost said in an emailed statement before negotiations with his EU counterpart Michel Barnier in London. “We need to see more realism from the EU about our status as an independent country.”
The two men will meet after U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned he is ready to leave without a trade deal when the Brexit transition period finishes at the end of the year. Both sides are seeking to secure an accord in time for an Oct. 15 meeting of EU leaders.
But talks have been at an impasse for months over two key issues: state aid -- where Britain wants to depart from EU rules to allow it to subsidize particular industries -- and fisheries, where the bloc is seeking unchanged access to British waters after Brexit, something the U.K. is resisting.
Leaving without a deal “would be a good outcome for the U.K.,” Johnson said in an email to supporters on Monday. “As a government we’re preparing, at our borders and at our ports, to be ready for it.”
Despite the warnings, Frost said it is still possible for the two sides to reach an accord.
“There is still time to reach a good agreement, and I look forward to this week’s face-to-face negotiations where I hope progress can be made,” he said.
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