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Friday, 29 March 2024

Barnier says EU-UK divorce talks need longer than a year

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Barnier says EU-UK divorce talks need longer than a year
Barnier says EU-UK divorce talks need longer than a year

EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said on Thursday (January 9) that the comprehensive agreement on the future relationship between the European Union and Britain will take more time to agree than the 11-month transition period that begins when the UK leaves the EU at the end of January.

While speaking Thursday to the Swedish European Commission in Stockholm, Barnier said the EU cannot expect to agree on every single aspect of this new partnership in under one year.

Barnier said the EU 27 accounts for 43% of all UK exports and 50% of Britian's imports, stating that a no-deal scenario would be more harmful to the UK than the EU because "EU members states have eachother to rely on."

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